Legal regime on use and misuse of trademarks in physical market place is more or less well established with well-defined statutory laws and moreover by a huge body of cases laws dealing with and resolving wide variety of issues. And the focus of administrative and judicial authorities, users and owners have now shifted from physical markets to the virtual markets on world wide web including B2B and B2C portals, auction sites, retail markets and social media sites. Legal principles regulating the use and misuse of trademarks in this virtual world is still evolving and drawing principles for the old regime with improvisation and tweaks applicable to the nuances of the new virtual world. Senior members of LexOrbis’ Trademark Practice Group recently participated in a round-table with other International specialists to discuss strategies for social media engagement , protection and enforcement.
“This article first appeared in World Trademark Review magazine issue 49, published by The IP Media Group. To view the issue in full, please go to www.worldtrademarkreview.com.”