The Fourth Circuit reopened the Rosetta Stone v. Google case last week, vacating a summary judgment ruling in favor of Google. If the case proceeds to trial, the issue will be whether Google infringes upon others’ trademarks when it sells associations to those marks to third-party competitors.

Last week, the Center for Copyright Information made some announcements that seemingly show it trying to balance business and consumer interests. There’s fuss that consumers should be more heavily represented in the CCI, but it’s only because the CCI is claiming to wield the market’s Internet access privileges.

Facebook plans to add “book” to its user agreement’s list of terms for which it asserts trademark protection. Though the listing is not significant in itself, the likelihood of courts actually granting Facebook protection for this shows the strength of its brand within the context of social networking websites.

The maker of an instant oatmeal named Better Oats is running Internet ads using a familiar slogan from the 1980s. The ads claim it’s “the choice of a new generation,” which would be bold considering it’s only oatmeal, except that last generation’s choice was only Pepsi.

In‑N‑Out Burger is a privately-owned regional burger restaurant, and sometimes its admirers fan out and open knock-off restaurants. CaliBurger in Shanghai is arguably one such knock-off, but In‑N‑out can’t control this use of its brand under international law if the brand isn’t well known in Shanghai.

Case precedent shows courts can be reluctant to grant relief from copyright infringement to videogame makers. In the past they have ruled out videogames as mostly unprotected ideas and not copyrightable expressions, but would this change as videogames become more complex and their ideas can be expressed in different ways?

Polish citizens protested this week to their government signing onto ACTA, voicing concerns that the adoption of its provisions would shift so much power to copyright holders that the people’s fundamental rights to digital privacy would be impaired. With the government going forward anyway, what will the protests accomplish?

Ron Paul’s political campaign filed a trademark infringement claim against a YouTube user whose video endorses Paul but inappropriately questions Huntsman’s allegiance because of ties with China. Is the video of “commercial use,” and is Paul’s claim viable?

The owner of the Atlanta Braves objected to the PTO over Disney registering “Brave” as the title of its next Pixar movie. It seems ridiculous to argue consumers would confuse the movie with the baseball team, but maybe the baseball team owner is just trying to not abandon its mark.

The maker of Sam Adams beer is taking an ex-employee to court for leaving to go work for another brewery. The viable trade secret misappropriation claim shows there’s a cost for having worked hard and been promoted: you can’t use your expertise if doing so would spill company secrets.