Last 27 March 2019, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China ruled in favor of Valeo, a French global automotive supplier, in a patent dispute against two Chinese car accessories companies. The SPC upheld the verdict of the Shanghai IP court in ruling that Valeo’s patent on a connector for windshield wipers was infringed by…
At the conclusion of the WIPO D2019-0263 case, the panelist rejected the request from Groupement des cartes bancaires to obtain the transfer of the domain name cb.markets (WIPO, D2019-0263, Grouping Bank Cards v. Domain Administrator, Coinbase, Inc., April 2, 2019, denied). It is essentially on the ground of the criterion relating to the right or…
On IP Twins: Amazon Project Zero: a project to eliminate counterfeiting on Amazon platforms Cyber attacks on the DNS: ICANN urges to deploy the DNSSEC protocol Sogou targeted by a class action due to an increase in counterfeit sales Press review on counterfeiting (February 2019) WIPO Statistics: Cybersquatting Complaints Hits a New Record Domain name…
The White House has issued a memorandum on the fight against counterfeiting. Président Trump plans to step up the government’s efforts in the fight against online counterfeiting. He plays on a more coordinated approach of the federal government, the institutions concerned and all the actors: “Third-party intermediaries, including online third-party marketplaces, carriers, customs brokers, payment…
Alibaba’s Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance (“AACA”) announced that criminal investigations in 2018 resulted in the arrest of 1,277 suspects and the closure of 524 manufacturing and distribution sites. The value of seizures of counterfeit goods is estimated at $ 536.2 million. The AACA was established in 2017. It now has 132 members from a wide range of…
We wish to remind you that there are now less than three months left for owners of domains registered under.co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk to secure the equivalent .uk domain. Back in 2014, the .uk registry Nominet launched this top-level domain to the market. The owners of .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk registrations on 28 October 2013…
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have published their 2019 report on trends in counterfeiting. It is based on data collected from 2014 to 2016. The previous report, based on data from 2011 to 2013, was published in 2016. Overall, the authors of the report…
Uncertainty still hovers around the UK’s possible exit from the European Union. As we previously wrote, several European domain extensions require that the registrant of a domain be located within the EU, which will have lasting impact on a large number of European domains. IP Twins answers all questions you might still ask yourself on…
Since the new gTLDs offer new opportunities for brand owners, they also offer cybersquatters the same opportunities. It suffices to observe the (more or less recent) decisions made under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization to note an upsurge in cybersquatting by the registration and use of non-similar domain names (typosquatting) but identical…
On March 17, 2019, Canada finally joined the Madrid Protocol, the Nice Agreement and the Singapore Treaty. These treaties, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization, will come into force — with respect to Canada, June 17, 2019 — (ompi.int, March 18, 2019). The filing of a trademark in Canada will be significantly accelerated and simplified. What…
A recent cyber-attack campaign, attributed to Iranian operators and realized at the DNS level, has sharpened attention to the risks associated with cyber-attacks targeting domain names. In a previous article, we talked about “Cache Poisoning” of “DNS Spoofing” attacks, using inherent vulnerabilities of the DNS system. The DNSSEC is one of the measures allowing to…
Unsurprisingly, there has never been so much cybersquatting. Figures from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center indicate that “the number of cybersquatting cases at WIPO increases by 12% to reach a new record in 2018” (wipo.int, March 15, 2019). WIPO is one of the institutions accredited by the Internet Corporation for…
Africa According to Ecofin, sub-Saharan Africa loses $10 billion because of counterfeit tobacco (agenceecofin.com, 4 Feb. 2019). Algeria A jeweler craftsman from Ath Yenni reveals his concern over counterfeit jewelry from China (depechedekabylie.com, 12 Feb. 2019). Brexit Drug manufacturers are worried. In the event of a Brexit without an agreement, the British could not benefit…
The Sogou search engine faces a class action brought by investors who claim to have been unaware of serious regulatory problems when it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in November 2017. The Sogou company allegedly failed to specify the Chinese authorities were investigating an increase in sales of counterfeits. According to…
In recent weeks, several authorities have reported an upsurge of coordinated malicious acts against the Internet Domain Name System (“DNS”) infrastructure, the backbone of the Internet. Ongoing attacks raise concerns about their persistence, magnitude, and the concomitant use of several methods. On January 10, 2019, based on reports issued by companies specializing in cybersecurity, the…
A few days ago, Amazon seemed to be in a turmoil recognizing the possibility of increased judicial and financial risk due to the endemic flood of counterfeits that invades its platforms. Now the e-commerce giant is trying to beat all odds with its aptly named “Amazon Project Zero“. This new tool aims to eradicate counterfeiting…
Afnic (the registry in charge of French ccTLDs, afnic.fr) and the French National Institute of Industrial Property (inpi.fr) have announced a partnership with the view of raising awareness of trademark and domain name owners as to the need to proceed, systematically and concomitantly, with trademarks and domain name registrations. This awareness campaign will, at least…
Indian authorities are considering amending the Information Technology Act 2000. Article 79 deals with the exemption of intermediaries from liability, imposing on them an obligation of diligence as to the lawfulness of the contents. In the course of 2018, the government informed the elected officials of its determination to modify the legal framework in the…
Founded in 1916, the Toy Association is representing companies that design, produce, license and distribute toys and entertainment products for youth. It has more than 950 members, including Amazon. The Toy Association defends the interests of its members, including the toy safety and brand protection of its members. In this regard, the association has just…
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan plans to strengthen the fight against counterfeit dairy products (trend.az, 25 Jan. 2019). China Hong Kong Customs seized counterfeit garments with a market value of $ 2.5 million after a week-long operation (Champion, Tommy Hilfiger, and Stussy). Nine people were arrested (insideretail.hk, 11 Jan. 2019). Shanghai police dismantled a group of 36 people…
