• Steak'n Shake Sues Burger King Over Use of "Steakburger" Phrase. Read
• Microsoft Ordered to Pay Lindows 944 Euros Amsterdam District Court Ruled in Favor of Lindows on All Counts. Read
• Cristall is Back in the Chamber of Patent Disputes: Rights to the Brand are Being are Contested for the Third Time. Read
• Honda in Wrangle Over Trademark Violation. Read
• Music Recording Companies to Forbid Digital Radio Broadcasts. Read
• President Kuchma Asks Rada to Speed Work on IP Protection Laws. Read
• Online music files piracy falls 27%. Read
• Domain Names. Read
• US Insists that Russia Take Concrete Measures on Copyright Protection. Read
• Interpol IDs Piracy Link to Funding of Terrorism. Read
• New Copyright Grants Artists Greater License. Read
• Financing Intellectual Property Subject of July Conference Hosted by Strategic Research Institute. Read
• S.P.I. Retains 'Stolichnaya' and 'Moskovskaya 'Brand Rights in Azerbaidzan. Read
• Piracy increases. Read
• Wanted. Read
• Pirates to be punished. Read
• Authorities Crack Down on Film Piracy Across Germany. Read
• Soyuzspirtprom. Read
• Band of Online Music Pirates Numbers in the Millions. Read
• Tiffany Sues eBay for Sale of Fake Jewelry. Read
• Special Commission to Fight Piracy. Read
• Press Release on Decree #299 from June 16, 2004, "On Approval of Provisions for the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks.". Read
• Russian Customs Officials Destroyed 29,000 Counterfeited CDs and Audio Tapes. Read
• Financial Express: Patient Vs Patent Debate Carries On. Read
• FSIS and RusBrand Sign Alliance. Read
• Complex Plan on IP Protection in Russia To Be Introduced. Read
• Bush Expected to Sign Patent Collaboration Bill. Read
• Czech Brewer Budvar Favored in Budweiser Name Fight in Finland. Read
• According to CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution In-House Counsel Can Avoid the Plague of Intellectual Property Litigation: Run-Away Costs and Threat to IP Rights. Read
• U.S. Anti-piracy Measures Advance — Senate Passes Legislation On Internet File Sharing; Tech Firms Decry Proposal. Read
• IFPI Is Inspecting Ru. Net. Read
• Japan to Guard Its Intellectual Property. Read
• Microsoft Plans Cheaper Software to Combat Piracy. Read

Steak'n Shake Sues Burger King Over Use of "Steakburger" Phrase
Associated Press Newswires — June 1
Steak 'n Shake claims to be "Famous for Steakburgers," and wants a judge to tell Burger King to steer clear of the trademark. The Indianapolis-based chain filed suit in federal court here last month over Burger King's marketing of the "Angus Steak Burger" that went on sale in some locations, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry will decide the case.

Microsoft Ordered to Pay Lindows 944 Euros Amsterdam District Court Ruled in Favor of Lindows on All Counts
PR Newswire (U.S.) — June 2
The Amsterdam District Court ruled on May 27, 2004 in favor of Lindows, Inc. on all counts in Microsoft's second attempt for a preliminary injunction on trademark infringement and has ordered Microsoft to pay Lindows 944 Euros. The court agreed with Lindows that not every use of the trade name Lindows infringes on the trademark "Windows."

Cristall is Back in the Chamber of Patent Disputes: Rights to the Brand are Being are Contested for the Third Time
Commersant — June 3
It was announced yesterday that the head of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks, Boris Simonov, submitted FKP Soyuzplodoimport’s notice of opposition to registration of the Cristall vodka trademark (which is widely known as Cristall — Black Label) for reconsideration. This makes the third time that the two parties who have long fought over this trademark — FKP Soyuzplodoimport and Sergei Zivenko’s TPG Kristall, have returned to court.

Honda in Wrangle Over Trademark Violation
Business Report — June 4
Japan's Honda Motor is entangled in another trademark violation case with Chongqing Lifan Industry Group, the largest privately owned motorcycle producer in China. It is also up against the Shanghai Wenan Motorcycle, a retailer. Honda accused the two defendants of producing and selling motorcycles that carry the trademark "SOR," which it claims is similar to the company registered trademark "SCR," the Shanghai Daily reported.

Music Recording Companies to Forbid Digital Radio Broadcasts
Lenta.ru — June 8
According to Hollywood Reporter the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass a law forbidding digital radio stations from broadcasting music that is not copyright protected. The RIAA claims that the digital broadcasting system allows users to download and share music files.

President Kuchma Asks Rada to Speed Work on IP Protection Laws
Ukrainian News — June 9
"Delays in bringing IP laws into compliance with international standards slow Ukraine’s accession to the WTO," said President Kuchma.

Online music files piracy falls 27%
Financial Times — June 9
The music industry yesterday claimed a breakthrough in its campaign against online piracy with a 27 percent decline in the number of illegal music files on the internet. New figures compiled by the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the industry association representing record labels, showed 800m illegally copied music files or tracks were available on the web, compared with 1.1bn in June last year.

Domain Names
Warren's Washington Internet Daily — June 9
First-quarter domain name registrations totaled 4.7 million, a 21% increase and the highest quarterly figure to date, according to VeriSign. More than 63 million domain names have been registered — about one for every 100 people in the world. The profile shows an increase of renewal rates, look-up rates, and a higher percentage for domain names tied to live sites. Over 72% of domain names are connected to live sites (72%). Total domain name resolutions for .com and .net averaged 11 billion daily first quarter, according to VeriSign.

US Insists that Russia Take Concrete Measures on Copyright Protection
Interfax — June 10
The decision on Russia’s accession to the WTO depends on the Russian government’s determination to take concrete measures on IPR protection, said U.S. Ambassador A. Vershbow. "Russia will have to take steps to bring its legislation inline with international treaties and conventions on copyrights."

Interpol IDs Piracy Link to Funding of Terrorism
Reuters — June 10
Terrorist organizations around the world are getting some of their funding from the sale of illegally copied intellectual property, including pirated DVDs and CDs, according to Interpol and copyright trade groups. An Interpol report prepared or the House Committee on International Relations says intellectual property crimes are a growing resource for groups from Northern Ireland and Arab world. The recording industry Association of America (RIAA) has evidence that two illegal CD plants in Pakistan are financed Dawood Ibrahim, whom the Treasury Department named the "specially designated global terrorist".

New Copyright Grants Artists Greater License
International Herald Tribune — June 14
An alternative copyright that allows authors and artists to give away their work while retaining some commercial right is being adapted for use across Europe and beyond. Lawers, musicians and filmmakers gathered in Berlin on Friday for the German introduction of licenses. Some 60 countries are expected to adapt these creative common licenses.

Financing Intellectual Property Subject of July Conference Hosted by Strategic Research Institute
biz.yahoo.com — June 17
To assist the financial markets and corporate sector in identifying and implementing intellectual property funding best practices, the Strategic Research Institute is sponsoring the Premier Forum on Intellectual Property Financing and Securitization. Scheduled for July 21, 2004 the forum will be held in midtown Manhattan at the Marriott Marquis. The topics, chosen with the input of leading IP professionals, include a focus on risk factors in IP financing; investing in intellectual property ABS; drug and pharmaceutical Royalty Transactions, and IP Valuation.

S.P.I. Retains 'Stolychnaya' and 'Moskovskaya 'Brand Rights in Azerbajdzan
Interfax — June 17
The S.P.I. group has retained its rights to the vodka brandnames "Stolichnaya" and "Moskovskaya osobaya vodka" in Azerbaijan. It has issued a press release saying that the Economic Court of Azerbaijan ruled in favor of S.P.I. and overturned a decision by the Appeals Commission of the Azerbaijan State Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patents on annulling the registration of the trademarks "Stolichnaya vodka" and "Moskovskaya osobaya vodka."

Piracy increases
Computer Crime Research Center — June 18
A World Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has finished its work in Morocco. The participants certified that the world market for counterfeit and piracy production rose to 500 billion Euros annually and is continuing to grow. Counterfeit production trade amounts to 7% of total world turnover. According to the ICC, the illegal pirate economy employs 120,000 people in the US and 100,000 in Europe annually. China and Russia are named among the most malevolent violators of intellectual property rights.

Wanted
The Moscow Times — June 18
What do people who produce and sell counterfeited goods in Russia think about it? "The authorities don't care if you dig into the profits of U.S. multinationals — ‘I think Walt Disney and Warner Brothers can spare the cash’ — but they do mind if it's Russian money. A pirate factory was told as much when it was caught copying the Russian action thriller "72 Meters," he said. The factory got shut down."

Pirates to be punished
Vedomosti — June 18
Under US pressure, Russian Government decided to forbid selling computer software in the open-air markets.

Authorities Crack Down on Film Piracy Across Germany
Los Angeles Times — June 20
The German Anti-Piracy Federation, a private investigator organization funded by U.S. studios, German independent film companies and electronics firms, worked with law enforcement to stage the March raid on 800 locations across Germany. In all, 12 people were arrested.

Soyuzspirtprom
Vedomosti — June 21
After auditing FGUP Rosspirtprom, the Audit Chamber board concluded that it should be merged with FKP Soyuzplodoimport in order to raise its efficiency. FKP Soyuzplodoimport is not particularly excited about the merger idea.

Band of Online Music Pirates Numbers in the Millions
International Herald Tribune — June 21
Last year, roughly 150 billion music files were transferred over peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

Tiffany Sues eBay for Sale of Fake Jewelry
Financial Times — June 22
Tiffany has sued eBay over what it claimed was the widespread sale of counterfeit jewelry online, opening up a rare challenge to the legal immunity of the rapidly growing internet auction site. The high-end US jeweler said its tests had shown that 73 per cent of items advertised by sellers on eBay as being from Tiffany were fake, and that eBay should be held liable for trademark counterfeiting and infringement.

Special Commission to Fight Piracy
Vechernaya Moskva — June 22
A special commission on IP was established by the Moscow Government. The Commission’s main focus is to protect IP rights of Moscow companies.

Press Release on Decree #299 from June 16, 2004, "On Approval of Provisions for the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks."
www.government.ru — June 22
This press release says that the government of the Russian Federation ratified the Provisions for the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks and specifies that organizations previously subordinated to the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks are subordinated to the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks until the Government of the Russian Federation approves the list of subordinate organizations to the federal executive authorities.

Russian Customs Officials Destroyed 29,000 Counterfeited CDs and Audio Tapes
Ria Novosti — June 23
Russian customs officials destroyed 29,000 counterfeit CDs and audio tapes which were to be exported to Germany.

Financial Express: Patient Vs Patent Debate Carries On
Financial Express — June 23
An amendment to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to incorporate the August 2003 deal for improving access to medicines for poor countries has been delayed with member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) failing to agree on the way ahead. The June 30 deadline may be extended to March 2005. The differences, like in all other agreements, are between the developed and the developing world. The developed world which is represented by the EU and the US wants to make this decision a part of the footnote to the existing TRIPS agreement while the developing world wants this as part of the Agreement itself, not as a footnote. Brussels and Washington are worried that incorporating this into the Agreement itself can create problems since the TRIPS as it exists today is well tuned to benefit all member countries and any change has the potential to tilt the balance in the agreement.

FSIS and RusBrand Sign Alliance
RBC Daily — June 24
The Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (formerly Rospatent) recently initiated the establishment of an advisory council for intellectual property. In the future, the council would include public organizations, producers’ unions, and bona fide companies that own IP objects and promote them in the Russian market. (A translation is available)

Complex Plan on IP Protection in Russia To Be Introduced
Interfax — June 26
Mikhail Fradkov announced that a complex plan coordinating the work of the IP institutions in Russia will be finalized in the nearest future. The Ministry of Science and Education will take the leading position and will be coordinating and supervising the work of other IP institutions.

Bush Expected to Sign Patent Collaboration Bill
Warren's Consumer Electronics Daily — June 29
The Senate passed a bill designed to encourage collaborative research without fear of patent challenges, sending the legislation to the White House. President Bush is expected to sign the act. The Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act is designed to enable more patents to arise from collaborative research. Crafted over several years, the bill was called "unique" during the House floor debate by Rep. Berman (D- Cal.), the bill's chief co-sponsor, as a "truly noncontroversial patent bill." Smith said the bill would allow researchers to "share information without losing the ability to file for a patent" on an innovation that arises from that research.

Czech Brewer Budvar Favoured in Budweiser Name Fight in Finland
The Canadian Press — June 29
A key legal opinion, put before the European Court of Justice Tuesday, recommends that Budvar AS, the Czech brewer, be given trademark protection of the Budweiser name in Finland.

According to CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution In-House Counsel Can Avoid the Plague of Intellectual Property Litigation: Run-Away Costs and Threat to IP Rights
www.businesswire.com — June 29
In-house counsels are learning to love a new important resolution strategy for intellectual property litigation: alternative dispute resolution (ADR). There are two basic types of ADR: 1. Non-binding processes, the most common of which is mediation - the voluntary, non-binding, confidential experience in which parties to a conflict attempt, with the help of a neutral person, to find enough common ground to arrive at a settlement; and, 2. Binding processes, the most common of which is arbitration - an out-of-court adjudication of a dispute before a neutral or panel of neutrals, very often with special technical expertise in the underlying subject matter of the dispute.

U.S. Antipiracy Measures Advance — Senate Passes Legislation On Internet File Sharing; Tech Firms Decry Proposal
The Asian Wall Street Journal — June 29
The U.S. Senate passed two pieces of legislation designed to help crack down on individuals who trade pirated music and other material over the Internet. But another Senate proposal is causing a growing uproar among technology companies, which are afraid it could stifle innovation and make devices such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod a possible target of entertainment-industry lawsuits. The Senate on Friday passed the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation (or Pirate) Act, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch, under which the U.S. Department of Justice will be able to bring civil copyright-infringement cases against people who download unauthorized copies of music, movies and other works using Internet file-sharing programs such as Kazaa. Under current law, the Justice Department can bring only criminal prosecutions, making copyright-infringement cases more difficult to prove in court. The Senate Friday also passed a bill that would increase penalties for distributing prerelease copyrighted works and create a federal law against use of camcorders in movie theaters. While the bills were praised by the entertainment industry and criticized by technology-advocacy groups, the greatest controversy stemmed from a proposal introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week by Sen. Hatch, a Republican from Utah, called the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act. The bill would allow entertainment companies to bring lawsuits against any company that "intentionally induces" individuals to violate copyrights by making unauthorized copies of songs, movies and other works.

IFPI Is Inspecting Ru. Net
Vedomosti — June 29
IFPI started the fight against Russian websites selling counterfeited CDs. IFPI also plans to take actions to close free file-sharing music websites.

Japan to Guard Its Intellectual Property
The Washington Times — June 30
Japan's economic ministry has warned that companies must protect their intellectual property in order to sustain a robust economy. In its annual White Paper, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry urged more active protection of patents, copyrights, brands and other intellectual assets in the global economy where countries such as China are supplying cost-competitive merchandise.

Microsoft Plans Cheaper Software to Combat Piracy
Financial Times — June 30
Microsoft is proposing to extend an offer to supply Asian countries with a simpler, cheaper version of its Windows operating system in an apparent effort to curb software piracy and dent the appeal of the open-source Linux system in the region. The offer was made by Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, during a visit to Malaysia, one of the region's hotbeds for software piracy where an incomplete version of Microsoft's next-generation operating system, Longhorn, went on illegal sale earlier this year. Microsoft recently said it planned to supply a stripped-down version of Windows, Windows XP Starter Edition, in Malaysia and Thailand for government-sponsored programs to provide more affordable personal computers to new users.