November 2011

—David A. Gauntlett, Gauntlett & Associates

Reversing the district court, the Tenth Circuit found a duty to defend claim asserted by RAKTL under various business method patent claims. In so finding, the court reached a distinct result from that achieved in Discover Financial Services, LLC v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 527 F. Supp. 2d 806 (N.D. Ill. 2007).

The different result flowed from the advertising technology patent at issue in the Dish Network suit. Notably, in Discover, those business method patent claims that involved “advertising methods or technology” were not set for trial. Thus, as of the date that a defense was adjudicated in the Discover case, there was no potential for coverage in the court’s view because the cases poised for a trial did not address any advertising technique patent claims. Moreover, National Union’s policy language was distinct as it limited coverage to “injury arising solely out of your advertising activities as a result of” one or more of the four types of offenses. Id. at 208.Continue Reading Dish Network v. Arch Specialty

An allegation of trademark bullying is in the news again, this time Chick-fil-A is the accused Goliath — charged with overreaching in its enforcement efforts relating to intellectual property rights in the very clever and creative EAT MOR CHIKIN a/k/a The Cow Campaign and advertisements:

Perhaps you’re wondering what aspect of the Cow Campaign Chick-fil-A is seeking to protect?

Perhaps you’re also wondering who David is, right?

Turns out “David” answers to “Bo” and he lives in Vermont, where farmers grow a lot of kale.

I’m told that if we were all to eat more kale, we’d all be more healthy.

There is a lot of protectable intellectual property in Chick-fil-A’s very creative and clever Eat Mor Chikin & Cow Campaign, but trademark infringement allegations relating to Robert “Bo” Muller-Moore’s Eat More Kale slogan appear — to me — to be baseless:

            

The Burlington Free Press coverage is here, and Seven Days coverage is here.

Anyone out there willing to take Chick-fil-A’s side on this one?Continue Reading Eat More Anything?

We have been following the truncation trend to single-letter branding symbols for some time now.

Visa appears to be heading in this direction with the relatively new V logo:

                                                                            

Based on trademark filings at the USPTO, it appears Visa began using this single-letter V logo by itself back in 2008 with the launch of

It’s Thanksgiving—we’ve all got food on the brain. I’m sure we can agree that Thanksgiving is a great excuse to take in excessive calories of turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie…(yum). Sweet potatoes. Green beans…Anyway…where was I? Oh yes. Excuses.

Since Thanksgiving is one of those few times a year most of America is “on

–Susan Perera, Attorney

On multiple occasions DuetsBloggers have discussed the risk of verb-ing your brand. While I won’t go into the legal and branding concerns which have been discussed at length, I do find it interesting how frequently these brand verb uses show up in current advertising. Clearly the marketing types aren’t cringing at the

—Neil F. Anderson, Founder& President, The Courage Group, Inc.

Starting a business from scratch, bootstrapping your own gig with limited funds, is the ultimate E-Ticket ride, the ultimate roller coaster ride. Only this 24/7 ride is more emotional than physical.

Most people during their lives never take this roller coaster ride, as most are working for someone else.  But for those people, who have already started their own business, or are just thinking about it, here are some helpful tips that just may make this ride a bit smoother. And equally as important, may help you avoid the start-up graveyard. And worse yet, having to go back and work for someone else again.

# 1 – Market and Sell 24/7This will help minimize the entrepreneur ups and downs, which will be many. The more potential customers/clients you can find and sign up, the more money you will make. And more importantly, the more bills you can pay. Some of the best advice I got early on was this; you have to market and sell everyday, otherwise you will fail. Remember, nothing else in business matters except customers, paying customers. Not the best mousetrap, not the best technology, not the smartest guys in the room, not intellectual property, only customers. Mark Cuban, Owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was right on; “Sales cures everything.” Jerry Mitchell, President and CEO of Jerry R. Mitchell and Associates, Inc; and President of The Midwest Entrepreneurs Forum, says; “Neil, this piece is a must read for every one thinking about starting their own business venture who thinks sales is a dirty word.”

#2 – Have a Sense of Urgency 24/7This is one of my biggest, hardest lessons learned early on. After I got fired from the corporate world, I had a nice severance package, insurance to fall back on. I think you know where this story is going. I kind of cruised along during the first two years of The Courage Group. I did not have a sense of urgency until the bills were starting to go unpaid, creditors were calling, and the electricity and phone were being turned off. You have to understand that many people are afraid to take the leap, and will talk others out of taking that leap as well in order to make themselves feel better about their fears.” The experts were right; it will take you twice as long as you think it will to turn the corner. Treat every day and every dime like it is your last, right at day one of opening your doors.Continue Reading Entrepreneurship, Emotional Roller Coaster

There was a time when a certain kind of small business owner — strapped for cash — with a meager promotional budget, easily could be tempted to adopt a “clever” name, as a “short-cut,” to “play off” a well-known, iconic brand, but in the end, he or she probably was convinced by counsel that doing

–Dan Kelly, Attorney

More than a year ago, I blogged about high fructose corn syrup getting a makeover.  The Corn Refiners Association has undertaken a campaign to rename high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar.”   (See SweetSurprise.com and CornSugar.com to be indoctrinated.)

I recently learned that a number of sugar companies (that’s cane sugar