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Fashion designs are not easy to protect in the US. Trademark, trade dress, design patent and copyright law are all useful, but each has its disadvantages. This was the message to hundreds of people that attended yesterday’s industry breakout session on the fashion industry.

Judging by the enthusiastic note-taking of attendees at Monday’s Effective Oral Presentation session, we all need advice on public speaking.

Though Budweiser was the official beer company sponsor of the 2010 World Cup, it was rival Bavaria that got all the attention.

Attendees yesterday indicated via red and green paddles whether or not they thought various hypotheticals posed a conflict for outside counsel, during an interactive session titled Ethics: Conflict Issues in Trademark Selection, Clearance and Prosecution. Audience members voted on whether they thought James Cady of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman should bow out of representing one of the fictional companies seeking his help to register the same or similar marks. The hypothetical involved Veni Vidi Vision, which sought to register the mark SHAZOOM in the U.S., and BSquared, which owned the mark SHAZOOM in the U.S.

While many concerns remain about the proposed launch of unlimited new gTLDs, it is not too early for brand owners to think about what their strategy should be.

Education is essential to winning the long term battle against fakes, said speakers at a session yesterday. “We have to teach consumers about the social harms associated with counterfeiting networks,” said Ed Kelly, of LaRiviere Grubman & Payne.

Latin America is emerging strongly from the economic downturn, with trademark applications increasing. But, as Karen Bolipata reports, there are many issues to be discussed in today’s session on the region.

Peter Ollier looks at the challenge of coordinating INTA’s work in an area as diverse as the Asia-Pacific region.

Muir Woods National Monument

Today’s annual review of U.S. case law will cover key trends such as U.S. courts’ recent approaches to assessing trademark functionality and how getting advice of counsel could change the game for fraud cases post-Bose. Eileen McDermott reports.