Proposed Digital Services Act

An Australian senator proposes a Digital Services Act relating to blockchain technology.

https://www.andrewbragg.com/post/address-at-blockchain-week-2022

NY NFT Trademark Lawsuit by Hemmes regarding Birkin bag NFT art

A decision from Judge Rakoff from the SDNY regarding a motion to dismiss in a case involving NFTs.  See https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/389/164932/Hermes-v.-Rotschild.Rakoff-order-on-MTD-1.pdf

 The court denied the motion to dismiss.

Mr Rotschild, the defendant, created a digital image of the Hermes Birkin bag, with a baby fetus inside the bag.  It sold for $23,500.  He also created images of faux fur Birkin bags, and 100 numbered NFTs that sold for about the price of a real world Birkin bag.

Hemmes sued Rotschild for trademark infringement.  Rotschild says the NFTs are art that have First Amendment protection.  He also said that his use of MetaBirkin for the title of his art had First Amendment protection.

The court said that there were too many factual issues to determine (e.g. is the NFT art?) to dismiss the case against Rotschild without having a trial.

The Top Ten Developments in US Patent Law over the past 50 years

Professor Don Chisum is a leader in U.S. patent law.  He has recently written this excellent article:

Fifty Years of Patent Law: The Top Ten Developments

https://chisum-patent-academy.com/wp-content/uploads/ChisumTop10in50Article6July2022.pdf

Well worth reading if you are interested in patent law and the business of patents.

Lawsuit in Victoria against Google over false reviews for artifical plant company

The Age newspaper has this story regarding false reviews of an artificial patents business, that alleged were posted when the business had a dispute with a moving company.

See https://amp.theage.com.au/national/victoria/david-and-georgina-had-a-dispute-with-their-removalists-four-years-later-they-ve-taken-google-to-court-20220707-p5azub.html

Interestingly, they are suing Google.

Similar story to the Titan Sheds dispute that ended up in the Federal Court in Brisbane a few years back.  There are about 3 court decisions.  One involved trying to get evidence from Google, but because Google was offshore, this was difficult.  See Note