Weekly IP Buzz for week ending February 9, 2018

Rise of Cryptocurrency; Battle of the Kylie Trademarks; ZeniMax, Facebook, and Copyright Infringement

Here's a summary of interesting developments in intellectual property, technology, social media, and Internet law for the week ending February 9, 2018.

The Rise of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a new term that refers to a digital asset that operates as a medium of exchange. It is similar to traditional currency like the U.S. dollar or the Japanese yen. Because cryptocurrency has now been accepted as a medium of exchange, it allows holders of that particular currency to exchange it in an identical manner to traditional money. Cryptocurrency has also been broadly referred to as digital or virtual currencies. These currency systems rely on decentralized control as opposed to the centralized banking systems that traditional currency currently relies upon. This means that each cryptocurrency operates using a block train, which is a public transaction database, functioning as a distributed ledger. More

The Battle of the Kylie Trademarks

On two different sides of the Atlantic reside two “Kylies” that have battled over legal rights to the sole use of the single word, “Kylie” in connection with a wide variety of goods and services. In the United States, Kylie Jenner (“Jenner”), reality star and half-sister to Kim Kardashian, filed for rights to use the single name “Kylie” in 2015. Her application for rights to “Kylie” was disputed, however, by Kylie Minogue (“Minogue”), an Australian pop star famous for her music since the 1980’s. More

ZeniMax sues Facebook for Copyright Infringement

While many different intellectual property laws can be utilized to protect software and its code, most practitioners rely on copyright law because it is often the most cost-effective means of protection as coders can submit newer versions or updates of their code to the U.S. Copyright Office as necessary. Relying on copyright law, ZeniMax, a company that creates and produces interactive entertainment for multiple media devices, has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Facebook. ZeniMax’s lawsuit takes aim at Facebook’s 2014 acquisition of Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift and other virtual reality devices. More

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