Cross Fit LLC vs Mr. Renjith Kunnumal & Anr.
The Plaintiff herein used ‘CrossFit’, a registered word and device mark, on a global basis for fitness & training services as well as its domain name www.crossfit.com. The Defendants were found using the name “SFC CROSSFIT” while imparting identical gym and fitness services, in their advertisements, website, social media handles, etc. Aggrieved by the same the Plaintiff filed a suit before the High Court of Delhi and an application seeking interim…
Social Media is an integral element of every business today, and no business can afford to ignore its relevance. From employee policies to business development, social media has a role to play in several business related activities. It is therefore important for companies to devise and follow legally acceptable standards and guidelines for handling business activities on social media.
This note outlines some best practices from the Intellectual Property, privacy and publicity perspectives.
Devise and Implement a Social Media…
This post provides short briefs of two publicity rights cases, which provide insights about publicity rights on social media. A previous post on the subject covered a couple of other cases.
Ranveer Singh and Slippers
Just before the movie Kill Dil, a Bollywood film starring Ranveer Singh, Govinda and others was released, a company by the name 'Yo Custom Freak' uploaded a Facebook image of slippers. The phrase 'Kill Dil' was written on the slippers and Ranveer Singh's photograph was…
This presentation was delivered by Dr. Kalyan Kankanala as a part of a seminar on intellectual property, social media and business. The seminar was attended by IP professionals as well as corporates. The presentation entitled ‘Social Media IP and Business’ covered the following topics.
Various types of IP on Social Media- Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Publicity Rights.
Intellectual property violation on Social Media- Direct Contact, Take Down, instances Infringement.
Let’s Go Crazy lawsuit
Examples of…
PINTEREST, v. PINTRIPS
Pinterest, a social media platform, which allows users to upload content and share it through what it calls as 'pins,' filed a suit against Pintrips, a company that allows users to compare travel plans and flight prices. In its suit, Pinterest claimed that it owns trade mark rights with respect to the mark, PIN, and that its use by Pintrips amounts to trade mark infringement and dilution. The case was filed in 2013 in a California Court.…
Social Media can make or break a personality. Most public figures from film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Will Smith, Aishwarya Rai, etc., to political leaders like Narendra Modi, Barack Obama, etc., are very active on Social Media. While on one hand, Social Media enables celebrities gain popularity, on the other hand, a celebrity's activities on Social Media platforms makes it possible for extensive misuse and abuse of a celebrity's persona. Over the years, several instances of passing off, false endorsement,…
Taking down IP infringing content on Social Media platforms is today a well-established process. All Social Media platforms have DMCA take down mechanisms in place. In line with the law, they have specific email ids and forms to enable IP owners raise disputes and take down content. Terms and Conditions of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have separate provisions dedicated to IP infringement and take down.
Facebook
"5. Protecting Other People's Rights
We respect other people's rights, and expect you to…
Tons of content is added to Social Media on a daily basis. It is estimated that more than 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each month; more than three hundred hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute; and more than six thousand tweets are added to Twitter every second. This can at the least be described as explosion of content creation and distribution. From the storm of content arises the need for aggregating, indexing and…
Social Media comes with a bundle of tools that differentiate it from traditional print and electronic media. Among others, two unique elements of Social Media are: Tools for sharing and dissemination of content and information across the world; and tools to communicate and exchange information. These two elements make Social Media a much more powerful weapon than traditional media.
Access to most social media platforms requires internet, of which there is no dearth in today's context. It is estimated that…