You have to be very careful in how you advertise your own
company and brand and how you advertise other companies and their brand. Being
a future business owner it is very easy to take the things that you have
learned and seen down through the years and incorporate it into your own
business plans and business. With the different laws in effect, you have to be
very careful that you don’t infringe upon anyone else’s work or property. With
that being said, you have to follow tight guidelines to protect yourself in
regards to your own property and being sued by others.
Apple just recently won a lawsuit against Samsung and
Motorola because Apple felt that both companies infringed upon their patent
used in touch – screen devices. Apple
received a settlement of $1.05 billion.
My opinion on this case is bias.
With technology changing every day I feel it is important to compete
with the competition. If Samsung and Motorola never came out with touch screen
devices, they would have never been a part of the technology competition. I
believe when it comes to technology and electronics you have come as close as
you can to building something that will compare to the latest competition. On
the other hand I believe that since Apple came out with such a great and savvy
patent, anyone who uses it should pay top dollar for it. Just think about it,
look how much money these two companies have made off of their touch screen
devices. Their companies would have went bankrupt by now if they did not bring
their technology up to Apple’s level.
Ben & Jerry is suing Ben & Cherry”s for trademark
violation. Ben & Jerry’s is an ice cream company and Ben & Cherry”s is
an X-rated DVD company. This is what you
would call trademark dilution because Ben & Cherry”s has a negative impact
on the name and company of Ben & Jerry’s.
Ben & Jerry’s have been in existence for over 35 years and it would
be very easy to misconstrue the names.
Ben & Cherry’s even named some of their movies similar to the
flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
This case has not been ruled as of yet but I am for Ben & Jerry’s. I
believe Ben & Cherry’s name was chosen intentionally and used because the
company knew it would be compared to Ben & Jerry’s. I am confident in
believing this because of the names of their movies such as “Boston Cream Thigh”
versus Ben and Jerry’s “Boston Cream Pie”. There are other names as well. This will definitely have a negative impact
on Ben & Jerry’s. Also, when you use search engines it is a possibility of
that name coming up, which may be inappropriate for children under 18. The worse
thing to do is to be searching for ice cream flavors and pull up pornography.
Ben & Jerry’s will more than likely win the case and should receive a hefty
amount of money.
Kanye West won a copyright infringement case against Vincent
Peters. Vincent Peters file a lawsuit claiming that Kanye West infringed upon
his lyrics from a song that he had given to one of Kanye West’s associates.
Kanye West’s song “Stronger” is the song in question. Peters claim that a significant part of the
lyrics were infringed upon in West’s song. The case was heard by the judge but
dismissed as he judge did not feel that Kaye West’s song or lyrics were similar
to Vincent Peter’s song. This is a very
sticky situation. I believe in a case like this sometimes you are stuck with
going with the judge’s opinion versus the actual content. First of all, I would not have given anyone
my song without a contract being in place saying that none of the lyrics could
be used in future projects. Artists are known for stealing lyrics from
undeveloped artists who they think will never make it. The music industry is very cut throat and its
sad to say, but I believe that the more popular you are, the more advantage you
have over someone who has not made it in the industry. I think Vincent Peters
should have filed an appeal.
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