MUSIC TO YOUR EARS

Supreme Court refuses to string ‘em up

The Supreme Court has refused to hear Gibson’s appeal against a Sixth Circuit decision holding that rival guitar-maker did not infringe its trade mark in the Les Paul guitar. Gibson had argued that Paul Reed Smith had, in producing a lookalike guitar, created post-sale confusion, although it admitted that, at the time of sale, no consumers were confused.

You can read more on this here.

The IPKat idly wonders if there’s an analogy to be made between this case and the ECJ’s comments on post-sale confusion in Picasso v OHIM (on which, see the Kat's post here).


Use your loaf

US songster Meat Loaf is having a spot of trade mark trouble AXcess News reports. Jim Steinman, writer of lyrics on Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’ and ‘Bat Out of Hell II’ albums has registered BAT OUT OF HELL as a trade mark in the US. Steinman and Meat Loaf have fallen out, and now Meat Loaf has brought an action concerning the trade mark in the Los Angeles District Court.

The IPKat notes that trade marks for song titles are really rather tricky. Even if you manage to get one, it’s unclear whether you’ll be making use of it in a way that can stop the mark from being revoked (in the EU at least) and it’s unclear whether use in third-party song lyrics would be use of a kind that would infringe.