Contributory Trademark Infringement: What Every Trademark Attorney Needs to Know

Contributory Trademark Infringement in the age of the Internet is something every trademark attorney needs to understand.

There are two theories under which a defendant may become contributorily liable for the infringing conduct of another under trademark law; 

First, a defendant can be liable for contributory infringement if that defendant “intentionally induces another to infringe a trademark.”

Second, the second theory of contributory infringement occurs when a defendant “continues to supply its service (for instance, an online sales, e-commerce or auction site) to a direct infringer whom the defendant knows or has reason to know is engaging in trademark infringement.” 

The standard for contributory trademark infringement is set forth in the Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc., 456 U.S. 844 (1982). Learning from Inwood, it is incumbent upon any person asserting their rights to a trademark that they provide notice (either direct or constructive) of any perceived infringement to the allegedly infringing parties.

Domain Dispute Alert: Viacom Loses UDRP Challenge to StansDad.com

Viacom recently lost a domain name dispute arbitration filed with the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) for acquisition of the site StansDad.com.

Viacom is best known as the owner of the animated television show South Park. After being made aware of StansDad.com, Viacom challenged the owner of StansDad.com by disputing use of the domain name and alleging that the site is used to host copyrighted material. However, Viacom challenged StansDad.com asserting ownership of the domain name and content based on its South Park copyright (Viacom does not own the copyright ‘Stans Dad’).

Register New Domain Names Before July 1st to Avoid VeriSign's Price Increase

Over at InternetBlog, in an article entitled VeriSign Raises Domain Prices, Gets 27 Million Extra, Alison noted that;