International Law

Crypto trademarks are a no-go in China. In line with the country’s prohibitions on cryptocurrencies, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will not register trademarks that describe crypto goods and/or services. Brands in the crypto space must be mindful of this reality when crafting brand and intellectual property rights protection strategies for China.

China banned cryptocurrencies in 2021. Consequently, applications to register trademarks that describe crypto goods and/or services are being rejected by CNIPA. At first glance, these rejections would appear to be consistent with China’s Trademark Law. Article 10(i)(7) prohibits the registration of trademarks “detrimental to socialist morality or customs, or having other unhealthy influences.” Interestingly, however, CNIPA does not always cite Article 10(i)(7) when rejecting crypto trademark applications.

In the case of one application rejected on both crypto and descriptiveness grounds, CNIPA did not cite Article 10(i)(7), but did cite the Trademark Law’s prohibition against descriptive marks.

This is a tragic case involving the marketplace app Letgo. Using an alias, Brown listed a stolen car for sale on the app. The Rolands agreed to meet Brown in person to buy the car. At the meeting, Brown tried to rob them at gunpoint. When the husband fought back, Brown shot them both dead. This lawsuit seeks to hold Letgo liable for the murders.

Section 230

With respect to whether the claims treat Letgo as a publisher/speaker, the court correctly says this case resembles Doe v. MySpace:

Plaintiffs’ claims arise from content Brown provided, including his false name, the working telephone number, and his purported desire to sell a car. Those claims — seeking to hold Letgo responsible for failing to adequately verify the content that was in Brown’s advertisement –are expressly precluded under the Doe v. MySpace analysis.

The Section 230 analysis then goes sideways. Brown used a

Harris Bricken is proud to be the key program sponsor for the December 15, 2022, event hosted by the Madison (Wisconsin) International Trade Association (“MITA”), titled, “Major Markets: Trade Updates with Europe and BRIC Nations.” The event will feature leading international economist, Byron Shoulton, who will speak on economic, trade, and political risks, including their expected impacts on international trade flows over the next 12-18 months, with a particular focus on Europe, Russia, and China.

Click here to learn more.

Harris Bricken’s newest international attorney, Ngosong Fonkem, will be attending this event live and speaking briefly regarding his and our firm’s international trade and Africa law practices. Ngosong joined Harris Bricken a few weeks ago to bolster our international trade law practice (especially customs law and export controls) and to head up our Africa law practice. Please be sure to attend this event to learn more about what your

Adam Kovacevich has defined the “Prager Effect” as “suing Big Tech to make your MAGA censorship allegation, resulting in Courts significantly strengthening platforms’ legal rights to moderate.” Prager, which makes misleading videos that appear designed to radicalize kids to the MAGA agenda, sued YouTube over its demonetization decisions, claiming that YouTube had engaged in biased content moderation. That lawsuit produced a game-changer Ninth Circuit decision that has become the flagship federal opinion on account terminations and content removals.

While the Ninth Circuit case was pending, Prager doubled down by initiating a parallel state court lawsuit. Prager advanced four claims: California Constitution article 1, section 2 (free speech); Unruh Act violations; UCL; and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. YouTube defended on Section 230 and other grounds. See my blog post on the lower court ruling. The resulting state court lawsuit has reinforced the Prager Effect,

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This year’s Chinese Association for Science and Technology in Utah (“CAST-UT”) Conference will be on Dec 10, 2022, from 2:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Guest House of the University of Utah. The Chinese Association for Science and Technology in Utah was founded in 1996 as a non-profit organization dedicated to serving local Chinese scientists, scholars, and business people in Utah.

This annual conference is the platform for gathering and discussing essential topics on scientific advancement, technological development, entrepreneurship, and the growth of the Utah State community. The topic of this year’s conference is “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. CAST-UT will host the following panels with notable speakers and guests: “The Future of the US-China Relationship in Business, Science, and Technology”; “Resources for Small Businesses and Startups”; and “Research Presentations by Young Scholars & Students”.

Harris Bricken attorney, Jonathan Bench, will be one of the panelists for the China