Diego Sues Sainsbury's

Diego, the world's biggest drinks company, has launched legal action against Sainsbury's, the supermarket chain, over copyright infringement of its Pimm's brand. 
The drinks group believes Sainsbury's decision to launch Pitcher's, an alcoholic drink to which lemonade and fruit can be added, infringes its intellectual property rights as Pimm's is a similar drink and Sainsbury's is one of Diageo's biggest customers in the UK. The drinks group's decision to take legal action against the retailer will catch many in the industry by surprise.

Sainsbury's launched the Pitcher's brand in April this year, claiming it as its own version "of the UK's favourite summer cocktail".

The retailer described the drink as "synonymous with sunshine" and said it was going on sale "in time for all the top summer events; Ascot, Henley and of course, Wimbledon".

A spokesman for the supermarket chain said it intended to "vigorously defend" the claims. "Our customers are savvy enough to know exactly what they're buying, the clue is in the name, and we see no basis for such an allegation," she added.


Jonathan Russell and Jonathan Sibun (2009) 'Diego sues Sainsbury over Pimms 'copy' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6035601/Diageo-sues-Sainsburys-over-Pimms-copy.html [18.03.12]

Famous Copyright Infringement Cases

J.K Rowling vs. Steven Vander Ark
J.K Rowling, the author famous for the ‘Harry Potter’ series of books sued Mr. Vander Ark for attempting to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia. Ark was attempting to write an encyclopedia known as ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ which was a collection of works that could bring more insight into the world of Harry Potter but he did not add any commentary of his own. It was however noted that this was not the only publication of its kind but this was done to protect the original works of authors the world over, according to Rowling. The presiding judge ordered damages of about $6750 by Ark to Rowling and also banned the publication which would have been done under Warner Bros.

A&M Records vs. Napster

This may be one of the most famous copyright infringement cases in history. Napster was a file sharing site that allowed people the world over to download music from all genres and parts of the planet. Launched in 1999, Napster became a popular site among many music lovers. However, in 2001 there was a case that involved a joint lawsuit filed by various record companies. This case was ruled in favor of the plaintiff and Napster was forced to shut down their site, but not before making a public apology and paying off damages to the tune of $26 million dollars.

How to use the Copyright Symbol ©

The use of the copyright notice may be important as it informs the public that the work is protected by copyright. It identifies the owner and shows the year of publication.

The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the owner and does not require permission from the Copyright Office. 

The notice for visual copies should contain the three following elements:

• The copyright symbol © (the letter C in a circle), the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation "Copr."
• The year of the first year of the publication.
• The name of the owner or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognised. 

It would be written like this:

© 2012 Hannah Gilrane

How To Copyright An Idea

A new and exciting idea should be copyrighted so that no one else can copy it and pass it off as their own. The first thing to do, it put it into a tangible form of expression. This can be done by simply writing the idea down on paper, recording it onto a CD or DVD or any other form where there can be found evidence of the idea. 

• There are many different kinds of works that can be copyrighted including: Literary works, including computer programs, musical works,  dramatic works,  pantomimes and choreographic works,  pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works,  motion pictures and other audiovisual works, Sound recordings and architectural works.

• There are also things you can't copyright including: Names, titles, short phrases and slogans, familiar symbols or designs, lists of items as opposed to explanations and work consisting of common property, like the standard calendar.

• When a work or idea is created, a copyright of it is automatically secured. You can also add the Copyright symbol © to add extra security. 

• By registering your copyright, you establish a public record of your copyright which is necessary to secure before you can file an infringement suit. 
• To register a copyright, you can visit: www.copyright.co.uk and fill out the relevant form for the type of work you intend to register. 

• There is a £42 fee for individual copyright registration.For this you get a filing with a court bailiff, certificate, secure storage 30 years included and assistance in the event on litigation.  

• Once you have registered for a copyright, it will remain valid 770 years after your death. If that is not long enough, you can fill out a form to renew the copyright. 

Copyright

Copyright is a legal right given to an inventor to print, publish, perform or record any artistic or musical material. It also allows the inventor to authorise others when requested, to do the same. 

Copyright protection doesn't need to be applied for, any act whether it be taking a photograph, writing a book or composing a song is automatically protected.

When protecting your work, it may be helpful to display the copyright symbol ©, your name and the year in which you created it.

When you wish to use copyright protected work, it is usually required that you contact the owner who may agree a licence.

You cannot reproduce copyright protected work in any other medium unless you have permission as copyright applies to any medium. For example, you cannot paint a photograph or make a sound recording of a book that it not your own and so on.

(Crown Copyright 2011 'Copyright' http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm_)[24.10.11] 

A good example of copyright infringement would be using a famous character for your own use without requiring proper permission.

Changing the character slightly is still considered copyright infringement if the changes are hardly recognisable. 

However basing your own work on an existing character which may be similar but has been changed to look different to the original and not recognisable as the protected character it is considered acceptable as explained on the website below:

http://www.walsworthyearbooks.com/idea-file/28460/copyright-infringement/

Trademark

Trademark is a sign which can differentiate a product or service from its competitors. The trademark may also be referred to as the 'brand.' It can be a word or a logo or even a combination of both. For example, there are lots of biscuits on the market, but KitKat is a trademark, which clearly seperates it from the others on the shelf. 
The majority of products and services are covered by something known as 'ordinary' trade marks. These marks work to show the trade origin which basically means they link the owner of the trademark to the products or services and the products or services to the owner.


Acceptable Trademarks:
-Invented words are the most distinctive. e.g. hangil
-An invented word together with a description of the product or service. e.g. hangil windows.
-A word that is not assosiated with the obvious product or service. e.g Dogtooth Finance. This is acceptable for financial servies, however the word 'Dogtooth' would not be acceptable for textiles or fashion as it is the name of a pattern.


Unacceptable Trademarks:    
-24 hours a day: These hours are used by many traders to advertise that their products or services are avaliable 24 hours a day.
-Some slogans are so popular that they are often not distinctive enough and are therefore unacceptable for a trademark.


Starbucks is a registered trademarked coffee house which is well known globally. Some companies copy famous logos, tweaking them slightly to make it their own. However most copies are blatantly ripping off a trademark which if taken seriously can result in the business being sued. 

This coffee shop logo is a blatant copy of the Starbucks logo.
(below)






















There are certain obvious changes that Kaldi's coffee shop has made so that they can suggest they haven't copied the Starbucks logo. For example, the typeface is different, they have a different logo in the centre, the stars have been changed to circles and the green is a slightly different shade. Making a number of changes like this makes the logo different enough for it not to be an infringement.

Design

A Registered Design is a legal right which protects the appearance of  a product or part of a product. It is only possible to do so in the country that it is registered in.

The purpose of a Registered Design is to help you stop others from copying or creating designs which are very similar to your own. 

For the registration, the design is defined legally as being the appearance of the product as a whole as a result of the products features such as colours, texture, shape, contours or materials of the product. Design Registration cannot protect certain things about a product relating the design e.g. the way the product works or the idea behind the product. It just protects the way a product looks visually. 

When relating the Registered Design to the term 'product,' it can mean packaging, typographic typefaces or graphic symbols which are all intended to be made into a more complex product. 

-For a design registration to be valid, it must be a brand new design with nothing similar already on the market or published online. It must also have individual and unique character.

-You cannot register a design if it is in any way offensive, if it contains protected international emblems or flags or if the product is determined by the technical function. 

The owner of a product can grant others permission to use their design and designs can also be sold. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363249/Can-tell-difference-The-parasite-brands-designed-rip-best-sellers.html