Welcome to the TBO monthly newsletter

Welcome to Trademarks & Brands Online, the new name for Trademarks Brands and the Internet. We feel the new title is snappier and describes the content better. You can read a flip-book version of the March newsletter here or as a PDF here. While TBO continues as a quarterly magazine, we are now publishing a monthly newsletter too.

In this inaugural issue, we speak to Yasmin Omer, general manager of Dot Shabaka, which manages the ةكبش generic top-level domain (gTLD). Pronounced ‘shabaka’ and meaning ‘web’ in Arabic, it was the first gTLD in a non-Latin script to go live on the Internet. The project has personal roots for Omer, whose vision was to provide Arabic users with a “first class” Internet experience and build a sturdy domain name industry in the Middle East.

Over in Europe, all eyes are on the European Commission’s review of copyright. The commission, seeking to make the rules relevant in the digital age, asked stakeholders 80 questions in its consultation. As thousands of responses flooded in, the commission extended the deadline earlier this year, and is now considering the answers. Adam Rendle of Taylor Wessing LLP assesses the consultation’s potential implications for rights online.

Then, along with our comprehensive news section, we hear from Susan Kayser of law firm Jones Day, who analyses when online service providers might be found liable for trademark infringement. Is a host or sponsor of online content obliged to police itself to prevent third-party counterfeiting? If yes, what is the extent of that duty? And how much is enough? These are just some of her questions.We hope you enjoy reading her article and all the others in this first TBO monthly newsletter.

Ed Conlon, editor