Initial Coin Offerings and the Texas State Securities Board; Secondary Trademark Liability; Online Privacy for Children

Here's a summary of interesting developments in intellectual property, technology, social media, and Internet law for the week ending April 6, 2018.

Initial Coin Offerings and the Texas State Securities Board: Leading the Way or Going Astray?

The Texas State Securities Board recently issued emergency cease and desist orders against different cryptocurrency companies for violating sections of the Texas Securities Act. Texas was the first state to issue an administration order on cryptocurrency. In particular, the Texas State Securities Board alleged these companies were illegally and fraudulently offering investments in the State of Texas, which were considered securities and subject to regulation by the Texas Securities Act. Read more about initial coin offerings. 

Background of Secondary Trademark Liability on the Internet

While the law does not always evolve at the same speed as technology, today’s law recognizes a number of ways companies and individuals can be found liable for inducing or contributing to another’s trademark infringement online. This law provides brand owners with opportunities to stop infringement online by seeking to hold liable a third party that controls or provides the means of infringement. while this law finds its roots in a U.S. Supreme Court case from 30 years ago, it applies to as a source of secondary trademark liability on the Internet. Read more about secondary trademark liability.

COPPA and Online Privacy for Children

The latest season of HBO’s hit comedy Silicon Valley highlighted the very real liabilities for companies that fail to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) by implementing online privacy safeguards for children and users under 13. In the Silicon Valley episode, a fledging startup company that specializes in video-chat faces potential COPPA fines numbering in the billions because their company, which enjoys a predominantly young user base, failed to include terms of service and privacy policies that comply with COPPA. As COPPA penalties have been set at $16,000 per child, the potential fines were devastating for the startup and ended up leading to its demise. Read more about online privacy.

Click to read last week's Weekly IP Buzz.

For more posts, see more at our intellectual property law blog.

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Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. He also co-founded Project K, a charitable movement devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time, and publishes Thriving Attorney, a blog dedicated to exploring the business of the practice of law, productivity and performance for attorneys, and other topics such as law firm leadership and management, law firm culture, and business development for attorneys.

Click to learn more about Darin M. Klemchuk's law practice as an intellectual property lawyer.