Question on World IP Day, 2010 – By Sania
Q. I am a photographer by profession and usually display my work through social networking websites like flickr and blogs. Recently a noted publication picked my work and publish the same in their column without taking any license from me. What remedies do I have against the publisher and the social networking websites, from where the said work has been taken?
A. If your work is original or you are the right owner of the Copyright in a work that was subject matter of infringement, or plagiarism, you can take Civil as well Criminal Action against the publisher and also claim the damages from them to use your work without obtaining proper license from you. However, you do not have any remedy against the intermediary or the social networking websites where you uploaded the work such as flickr or blogs, since you have explicitly granted in non-exclusive license to the social networking websites to redistribute your work to the other users. You should properly read the terms of service and other website policies before uploading or sharing your original / copyrighted work on such Websites. Once you upload or share the work with these website you are in explicit agreement with such websites and grant them World Wide non-exclusive and non-royalty based license to use your work in different forms. (By Gurpreet Singh & Maninder Walia)
If you have issues or queries relating to Intellectual Property or Internet Laws, Please Contact us at contact@cipfo.org
Expanding my Business Online – Require some tips – Question By Dr. Roy
Q. I own a trade mark and now expanding my physical business to online and want to register some domain name for my business activities. What strategy should I adopt?
A. The following steps could guide you if you are planning to expand your business online from the physical world:
1. first and the foremost try to search and secure your trade mark term in the top level domains such as .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz etc.
2. after this first step, identify your existing and future markets in which you wish to expand your business activities. Based on that reserve your trade mark names under the different ccTlds such as .in for India; .ca for Canada and .eu for European Union etc.
3. I strongly recommend to reserve your trade mark name under .tel Tld, which enables the user to know the contact details associated with your business and can be managed easily by the user himself.
If you feel that your trade mark has been reserved by any third party to trade upon your goodwill and reputation or to create hindrance for you to register your trade mark term, you can initiate the administrative proceedings under Uniform Domain Resolution Process (UDRP) or with the appropriate Domain Dispute Service Provider of a particular ccTld. You can also approach the Civil Court having jurisdiction to hear such cases and obtain the order of transfer along with the damages therefrom. (By Gurpreet Singh & Maninder Walia)
If you have issues or queries relating to Intellectual Property or Internet Laws, Please Contact us at contact@cipfo.org
Question relating to Social Networking Websites like Facebook & Twitter – By Mr. Modi
Q. I own a trade mark for certain products or services and would like to know how can I secure my trade marks rights on facebook and Twitter?
A. The trade marks rights are jurisdictional and are dependent upon the regulations in your jurisdiction. If any third party has secured a user name on facebook or twitter, which appears to you as your trade mark or service mark, you can initiate the following legal remedies:
(a) Administrative Proceedings with the service provider such as Facebook and Twitter
(b) Civil Proceedings with the Civil Court having the jurisdiction hear the matter.
(c) Criminal Proceedings with regard to impersonation and identity theft depending upon the laws of your jurisdiction.
However, before initializing any action you should do the due diligence and find out whether the name secured by the third party is for legitimate purpose or illegitimate purpose. It is important to identify whether the third party, who has secured the user name has any right to that mark for any other description of goods or services or in any jurisdiction other than yours. (By Gurpreet Singh & Maninder Walia)
If you have issues or queries relating to Intellectual Property or Internet Laws, Please Contact us at contact@cipfo.org
Copyright Related Question By Lisa
Q. If I do not have a Copyright notice displayed along with my work, is it not Copyrighted?
A. The Copyright is vested in the author the moment any literary or artistic or musical work is created and the same does not require any mandatory registration with the Copyright office. It is always advisable to display the Copyright notices along with the work to identify the owner and the nature of Copyright vested with such owner at all times. However, the Copyright comes into the force the moment the work is created by the author. (By Gurpreet Singh & Maninder Walia)
If you have issues or queries relating to Intellectual Property or Internet Laws, Please Contact us at contact@cipfo.org