The Conkle Firm Attends IECSC and IBS Beauty Industry Shows in Las Vegas

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CK&E attorney Kim Sim recently attended the International Esthetics, Cosmetics and Spa Conference (IECSC) and International Beauty Show (IBS), two of the premier trade shows for manufacturers and distributors in the personal care products industry.  The trade shows were held June 12 through 14, 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas.

IECSC Las Vegas is the country’s largest spa and wellness conference and expo, with more than 600 exhibitors, including manufacturers, distributors, spas and wellness centers, and thousands of professionals attending from the national and international spa and wellness market.  In addition, this year’s IBS Las Vegas, a beauty show focused primarily on salon-only and professional-grade products, featured more than 350 exhibitors.  Many of CK&E’s industry clients exhibited at both IECSC Las Vegas and IBS Las Vegas to widespread interest by show attendees.  Both IECSC Las Vegas and IBS Las Vegas offer a unique opportunity for CK&E to meet and interact with clients as well as other professionals in the beauty industry, and stay on the inside track about the industry’s latest developments and trends.  Kim was pleased to be able to catch up with BonBliss Beauty founders Elissa and Jay Choi.

CK&E’s next trade show attendance will be at Cosmoprof North America, one of the world’s top trade shows for the personal care products industry.

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BIR Article Features the Conkle Firm at Cosmoprof Bologna’s California Pavilion

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Tireless reporter Mike Nave attended Cosmoprof Bologna in April 2014, and this month published the Beauty Industry Report (BIR) article detailing his observations.  BIR featured Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s participation in the California Pavilion.  As previously posted in this blog, Cosmoprof Bologna is a preeminent global conference for the personal care products industry, with over 207,000 visitors and 2,450 exhibitors from 69 countries, and participation by manufacturers, distributors and industry organizations.  CK&E was proud to be able to assist The California Pavilion, orchestrated by the California Trade Alliance.  CK&E joined Beauty Industry Market Access (BIMA) directors Patty Schmucker and Cesar Arellanes, and several graduates of the BIMA program, and was pleased to offer immediate assistance in international distribution and brand protection issues.

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The Conkle Firm is Featured in April 2014 Beauty Industry Report

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Conkle, Kremer & Engel is proud to again be the subject of a feature interview in the industry-leading publication, Beauty Industry Report (BIR).  BIR is a monthly 24-page executive newsletter for professionals that focuses on the emerging trends affecting the beauty industry.  CK&E’s feature interview assessed the latest legal trends, based on CK&E’s decades of experience in the industry.  Topics covered included trademark and brand protection, both international and domestic, regulatory compliance issues such as California’s Proposition 65 and the Safe Cosmetics Act, issues in manufacturer-distributor relationships, and more.

The attached article includes links to topical blog posts and websites referenced in the interview.  CK&E wishes to thank BIR’s Mike Nave for taking the initiative to disseminate information about these important industry issues.  BIR proved again that working in the beauty industry without reading BIR is like working in finance without reading The Wall Street Journal.

BIR Feature Interview of CK&E

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The Conkle Firm Participates in California Pavilion at Cosmoprof Bologna

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CK&E attended Cosmoprof Worldwide in Bologna, Italy, the international professional beauty industry trade show, in April 2014.  Cosmoprof Bologna is a preeminent global conference for the personal care products industry, with over 207,000 visitors and 2,450 exhibitors from 69 countries, and participation by manufacturers, distributors and industry organizations.  Highlights included the dynamic USA Pavilion and California Pavilion, orchestrated by the California Trade Alliance.  CK&E joined Beauty Industry Market Access (BIMA) directors Patty Schmucker and Cesar Arellanes, and several graduates of the BIMA program, as they put into practice the concepts taught at the intense educational program designed for entrepreneurs entering international markets.  To learn more about the BIMA program in which CK&E attorneys participated, click here.

As developed in discussions at Cosmoprof, a critical issue for many U.S. exhibitors entering the EU market is the July 2013 Cosmetics Regulation (EU Reg. 1223/2009) that overhauled the European Union’s regulatory landscape for personal care products.  The Regulations introduced a number of new requirements, including labeling for nanomaterials such as titanium dioxide, claim verification standards and an EU-wide ban on animal testing.  As a brief introduction to the new requirements, the EU distilled the July 2013 Cosmetics Regulation into the simplified infographic shown here.

Under the new Regulation, each manufacturer selling cosmetic products into the EU must designate a person or business entity physically located in the EU that will serve as the manufacturer’s designated “responsible person” for compliance with the Regulation.   CK&E has strong working relationships and regularly works with such “responsible persons” who can be engaged to assist businesses seeking to expand into the EU.  CK&E is pleased to participate in industry events such as Cosmoprof Bologna and programs such as BIMA, to help U.S. entrepreneurs expand into the EU and to assist foreign manufacturers develop and secure markets for their products in California and throughout the United States.

Cosmoprof Blogna

 

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The Conkle Firm Teaches International Entrepreneurs in BIMA Program

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Conkle, Kremer & Engel attorney Mark Kremer has been honored to participate in and contribute to the revolutionary Beauty Industry Market Access (BIMA) program through the Center for International Trade Development (CITD).  The BIMA program was developed and is led by beauty industry guru Patty Schmucker and international trade expert Cesar Arellanes, the Director of CITD in Long Beach.   BIMA is a five week intensive international trade and business education program taught by leading health and beauty industry experts. BIMA participants focus on key program principles distinct to conducting business overseas, receive bi-monthly objectives for assessing their business, and ultimately produce an export growth plan exclusive to their business. Participants also have access to upcoming trade missions to the world’s largest emerging market beauty trade shows – effective venues for executing learned principles and business plans.

Mark contributes to the BIMA educational program by teaching modules on domestic and foreign intellectual property protection, domestic regulatory compliance, and international distribution agreements.   Participants are particularly interested in cost-effective methods of protecting their intellectual property internationally, such as international trademark registrations through the Madrid System.  The Madrid System offers a centralized application process for trademark registration in over 90 countries based on a brand owner’s domestic application or registration.  Participants are also interested in CK&E’s practical approach to domestic regulatory compliance, including California’s evolving green chemistry initiative, Safe Cosmetics Act and Proposition 65.  Participants have also benefited from CK&E’s tips for forging fruitful business relationships with distributors, based on decades of experience representing clients in the personal care products industry.

CK&E will join Patty Schmucker and several graduates of the BIMA educational program to Cosmoprof Worldwide in Bologna in April 2014.  Mark looks forward to the next BIMA session, which begins on June 26, 2014.  Click for further information about joining the BIMA program: BIMA_Summer-Fall_2014

 

 

 

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Spain Enjoins ISP from Allowing User to Infringe Copyrights

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The Barcelona Court of Appeal recently issued a judgment holding an Internet Service Provider (ISP) subject to injunction due to copyright infringement by one of its users.  This ruling is consistent with the EU’s Copyright Directive, Recital 59, which provides:

In the digital environment, in particular, the services of intermediaries may increasingly be used by third parties for infringing activities. In many cases such intermediaries are best placed to bring such infringing activities to an end. Therefore, without prejudice to any other sanctions and remedies available, rightholders should have the possibility of applying for an injunction against an intermediary who carries a third party’s infringement of a protected work or other subject-matter in a network.

Spain authorized injunctions against intermediaries in article 8(3) of its Copyright Act.

In the Barcelona case Promusicae, an association of Spanish music producers, learned that someone was using the Direct Connect P2P network to make available in a shared folder 5,000 music files including copyrighted music.  In Spain, ISPs are not obligated to identify their users for purposes of civil lawsuits, so the only identification of the user available to the claimants was a nickname and IP address.

Without identifying the primary infringer, the copyright holders sued the ISP, R Cable y Telecomunicaciones Galicia.  The appellate court found that there was infringement and that the copyright holders were entitled to an injunction against the ISP that was providing internet access to the infringer, enabling the infringement.  The injunction required the ISP to permanently stop providing internet access to the infringing user, stopping the infringement.

This was the first ruling of its kind in Spain, but analogous rights against intermediaries are available in the U.S. and EU countries.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel assists its clients to protect and enforce their IP rights in copyrights, trademarks and patents worldwide.

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China Finds Parallel Imports Constitute Trademark Infringement

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Chinese trademark law has no specific prohibitions against sale of gray market products diverted into the Chinese market, also known as parallel importation.  An important breakthrough occurred recently when the Suzhou Intermediate Court enforced trademark holders’ rights against an unauthorized reseller of gray market goods imported into China.

Pernod Ricard China (Trading) Co., Ltd. is the exclusive trademark licensee of Absolut Vodka (Images II-IV) in China.  Pernod Ricard and the trademark owner, Absolut Company Aktiebolag, brought a lawsuit in China against a local retailer of parallel imports of Absolut Vodka products, asserting trademark infringement and unfair competition.  The key facts were that the imported products had manufacturers’ identification codes removed and had added labels bearing Chinese characters for “Absolut” (Image I) and identifying an unauthorized importer and distributor.  The code removal and label addition infringed consumers’ right to know about the product origin, interfered with the trademark owners’ ability to track products to maintain product quality, and undermined the integrity and beauty of the genuine product.   The removal of the manufacturers’ identification code violated Article 52.5 of China’s Trademark Law, which is a catchall term prohibiting impairment of an exclusive right to use a registered trademark, and constituted unfair competition.  The addition of unauthorized labeling violated Article 52.1 & 52.2, prohibiting use of an identical or similar mark on the same or similar goods without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, and infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark.

Absolut Vodka Images

Absolut Vodka Images

Conkle, Kremer & Engel works to protect its clients’ brands in the United States and abroad.

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Conkle Kremer & Engel Presents Brand Protection in Brazil

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Daniel Advogados presenting at CK&E's Brand Protection in Brazil

Daniel Advogados presenting at CK&E’s Brand Protection in Brazil

Conkle, Kremer & Engel recently teamed up with its international correspondent lawyers from the Brazilian intellectual property firm Daniel Advogados, Andrew Bellingall and George de Lucena, to give a presentation about what companies can do to protect their brands in Brazil, including helpful information about doing business in Brazil.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s Mark D. Kremer emceed the event and moderated the informative Q&A that followed the presentation.

Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest country in the world in terms of land mass and population.  Brazil is also a founding member of BRICS – the acronym for the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.  Its growing middle class, stable currency, and high demand for its commodity exports have all made Brazil a very desirable place for companies to expand. And it does not hurt that Brazil will host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic games.

Kyle Baker shows his 3Expressions 3D Tablet innovation to John Conkle and George Mendonça de Lucena

Kyle Baker shows his 3Expressions 3D Tablet innovation to John Conkle and George Mendonça de Lucena

Because our clients’ intellectual property and brand protection needs extend beyond the U.S. border, Conkle, Kremer & Engel has established working teams with leading international intellectual property law firms around the world.  It is Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s mission to stay on top of developments in all foreign and domestic markets where our clients currently operate or look to expand.

Conkle, Kremer & Engel wishes to thank all those who attended the presentation, as well as our friends and colleagues from Daniel Advogados, Andrew Bellingall and George de Lucena.   We are pleased to be able to confirm that the presentation was approved by the State Bar of California for 1.0 hour of participatory MCLE credit for all lawyers and paralegals in attendance.  For all questions regarding MCLE credit, please contact Martinique E. Busino at 310-998-9100.

Slideshows from Brand Protection in Brazil:

Daniel Advogados – Doing Business in Brazil

Daniel Advogados – Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in Brazil

Topics covered in the presentation and the Q&A session included:

Strategies for entering the Brazilian market

  • Exporting goods bearing the owner’s trademark
  • Doing business through a subsidiary
  • Licensing use of trademarks to an unrelated third-party
  • Joint ventures with Brazilian companies
  • Franchise agreements with Brazilian companies

 Protection of trademarks in Brazil

  • Best practices for brand protection
  • An overview of trademark prosecution and enforcement in Brazil
  • Procedures and delays at the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office
  • Legal remedies available to intellectual property owners
  • Court procedures in Brazil for actions involving intellectual property
  • Registration of domain names in Brazil

The latest developments at the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office regarding trademarks

  • Issues related to Brazil’s possible adoption of the Madrid Protocol
  • Adoption of multi-class and multiple owner applications

Combating counterfeiting and piracy in Brazil

  • Ramifications of intellectual property infringements, which are crimes in Brazil
  • Using criminal remedies and border control measures as intellectual property protection solutions

 

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Kirtsaeng Holds Copyright First Sale Doctrine Trumps Importation Rights

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The Copyright Act gives a copyright owner the exclusive right to sell copies of the copyrighted work. But once a genuine copy is sold, a lawful owner of that particular copy can resell or transfer what he bought without infringing the copyright – the copyright owner can no longer use the copyright to control the resale of that particular copy.  This copyright limitation has become known as the “First Sale Doctrine.”

A quirk in copyright law arose because the Copyright Act has a provision that prevents importation of a copyrighted work into the U.S. without the copyright owner’s permission.  (17 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)).  This ability of the copyright owner to prohibit importation seemed to conflict with the First Sale Doctrine when a copy is first sold outside of the United States.

In the 1998 decision Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L’Anza Research, Int’l, Inc., the Supreme Court held that a copyrighted product manufactured in the U.S., but first sold in a foreign country, was subject to the First Sale Doctrine.  The result was that the copyright owner could not prohibit importation of the copyrighted product into the U.S.  But the question remained whether the First Sale Doctrine also applied to copyrighted works that were both manufactured and first sold outside the U.S.

In March 2013 the Supreme Court answered the question by applying the First Sale Doctrine regardless of where the copyrighted work is manufactured or first sold.  In Kirtsaeng dba Bluechristine99 v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the products involved were textbooks manufactured and first sold in Thailand by the copyright owner, then later imported into the U.S. for resale without the copyright owner’s permission.   In a split decision, the Supreme Court held that the Copyright Act requires that the First Sale Doctrine applies to authentic, unaltered products that were lawfully manufactured and first sold by the copyright owner in a foreign country as well as in the U.S.

The Kirtsaeng decision provides no protection for sale of modified, adulterated, pirated or counterfeit copies, regardless of where they were made or sold.  Nor does it insulate parties from participation in fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition or other wrongful acts that are independent of copyright protections.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel has long recommended that its clients take a multi-faceted approach to preventing and remedying product diversion and counterfeiting, so they are able to effectively address the problem no matter where and how the misconduct occurs.

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