DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Susan Perera

View my professional biography

Born into the world with an aptitude for science and an affinity for art I found my career path quickly chosen for me.  As my sister had already staked out her position as the “creative one” in the family, my parents were eager to prepare me to become a doctor or spend my career in a science lab.  Wanting neither, I pursued a career in law. I obtained a degree in biochemistry and continued on for a Master’s and JD as part of a joint degree program. Although a strict patent attorney position would have been a logical career choice, I sought something a bit more creative.

A broader intellectual property practice allows me to look at and interpret technologies (science) while counseling clients on how to register and protect their marks (arts).

After-hours, you will find me with my family, working on one of our never-ending remodeling projects, snapping pictures as the family photographer, catching the latest movie with my husband, or bargain shopping for the next great deal.

Posts by Susan Perera

Brands on Decline in 2012

By on Posted in Branding, Food

Predictions are in and multiple brands are expected to decline or disappear completely in 2012.  CoreBrand CEO, James Gregory (as reported by Jim Edwards), and 24/7 Wall Street have both released lists of brands they believe are on the chopping block for the coming year. The predictions attribute some of these brand failures to the… Continue Reading

Surname Perceptions

By on Posted in Branding

I find it very interesting how personal perception of a brand name can influence us and I sometimes wonder how much thought is given to brand names when they are chosen. Sure, large companies can, and often do, hire naming specialists who study and create names that will appeal to the masses, but what about small… Continue Reading

Can you hear it?

By on Posted in Look-For Ads

  Christmas came and went, and here in Minnesota it was a bit brown and depressing looking outside. If only it would snow… Sigh. However, if you listen carefully you might hear it… no, it’s not the reindeer, but maybe some “listen for” advertising?    This holiday season I’ve seen a few too many Lexus commercials… Continue Reading

The Verb-ing Continues

By on Posted in Television

  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 use of brands as verbs… Continue Reading

“Punch-Dub” Replaced with “High-Five”?

By on Posted in Television

Who doesn’t love a good commercial, because lets face it, there are plenty of sub-par ones out there.  And some brands have been more consistent in creating entertaining commercials than others.  Maybe you’ve seen Volkswagen’s recently released "High-Five" commercial for the 2012 Beetle that contains some catchy music and is reminiscent of Volkswagen’s older "Punch-Dub"… Continue Reading

Seeing Green

By on Posted in Trademarks

  Store shelves continue to turn green as an increasing number of products tout their sustainable nature through the use of green product packaging. The most recent issue of the ABA magazine, Landslide, is all about “green” with multiple articles discussing the impact of this phenomenon in the IP field.  One of the articles, “It’s Not… Continue Reading

Doggone Trade Secret Issues

By on Posted in Uncategorized

If you have a pup accustomed to gourmet dog treats from the Mall of America you might have an unhappy canine on your hands.  Megamall kiosk owner, Chewzy Dogs, has filed suit after its franchisor and maker of its dog treats abruptly ended its agreement to supply Chewzy Dogs with its trade secret recipe treats…. Continue Reading

Tweet Fight

By on Posted in Law Suits

Most of us are fairly familiar with the use of Twitter.  Like Facebook, this social networking giant has inserted itself into our lives, it is almost difficult to find a business that is not active on Facebook, Twitter, or both.   You can even follow us on Twitter at @duetsblog and @susanperera (no apologizes for the… Continue Reading

When Silence is False

By on Posted in Law Suits

  Most false advertising claims originate from an advertising statement.  (For example, see Dan’s post last week on Sam Adam’s bottle cap advertising).  However, a recent suit alleges false advertising  based on what wasn’t said. Yesterday, Terry Baynes at Thompson Reuters reported on an attorney who has filed suit against Chipotle for its lack of… Continue Reading

Protecting Your Throwback Trademarks

By on Posted in Advertising

  The revival of retro logos and packaging seems to be everywhere this year. You can hardly go into a store without seeing another product that is revisiting an old look.  I snapped this shot during a shopping trip over the weekend and I’m not the only one who’s noticing, you can see images of Pepsi’s throwback… Continue Reading

Imitation Apple Stores and Trade Dress Protection

By on Posted in Counterfeits

  Many companies have experienced issues with counterfeit products, but few have likely dealt with counterfeit stores. Over the weekend I was surprised to hear about counterfeit Apple Stores in China selling authentic Apple products. New reports identify up to five Chinese stores mimicking Apple’s iconic store appearance down to the white Apple logo, clean look,… Continue Reading

Pawn Star Prior User

By on Posted in Law Suits

  Having a registered trademark doesn’t mean you can stop everyone from using the same or similar mark. Without comprehensively searching for prior common law uses of similar marks it can be difficult to know if another party may have prior rights in a mark, a lesson that the A&E Television Network may be learning. Although… Continue Reading

Noticing Your Exposure to Color Marks

By on Posted in Product Configurations

A few weeks ago I wrote about the use of unique colors in trademarks and logos as a potential way to differentiate your brand. Like using distinctive colors as part of a trademark, many companies use distinctive colors on their actual products to act as source identifiers. While a color trademark for a product does take… Continue Reading

Donuts Now in HD!!

By on Posted in Advertising

    While passing through the bakery at our local grocery store I noticed this sign for HD Donuts. Donuts in high definition you ask? Nope, they’re just highly delicious.  Does it seem like every brand owner is trying to take advantage of the HD hype these days? Even those brands that have nothing to do with… Continue Reading

Industry Color Clusters

By on Posted in Branding

  I recently read Nora Reed’s blog post, Locate your Brand on the Color Spectrum, on Logoblog. Nora identified a trend, which you may have noticed from time to time, that some industries tend to congregate in a specific color scheme.  For example, fast food logos tend to be in the red/yellow category, while social networking… Continue Reading

Duck Duct Debate

By on Posted in Branding

  Every once in awhile I run across a product and find myself wondering… why did they name it this?  I recently ran across the Duck Tape brand shown below.  My first reaction was “duck” is a commonly misused term to identify what should be called “duct” tape, and this brand owner interestingly chose to… Continue Reading

Pick A Fight With A Warlock, Trademark A Sheen-ism

By on Posted in Idea Protection

Media spectacle, train wreck, or marketing bliss, it’s up to you, but you can’t escape the news about Charlie Sheen’s rambling webcasts, or the overnight success of his Sheen-isms. If you haven’t had your fill, feel free to take a moment at this website dedicated to sharing some of Sheen’s memorable statements. Last week multiple news… Continue Reading

That Purple Cereal

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, Food, Infringement, Marketing, Product Packaging, Sight

As you likely know, many of the Duets Blog bloggers were involved in a full day trademark CLE last week. One of the sessions focused on the issues facing private label brands and the line between identifying your competitor by using similar packaging and infringing on their trademark or trade dress. Along those lines, a friend… Continue Reading

Spot that Spout

By on Posted in Product Configurations

  It was time for a new kitchen faucet at our house and after opening the box of our new Delta faucet we noticed this image on the side panel of the box. The registration for this kitchen faucet product configuration mark (shown farthest to the right on the box) can be seen here.  As… Continue Reading

Levi Pockets a Favorable Court of Appeals Decision

By on Posted in Dilution, Law Suits

Dusting off the archives, you may remember a 2009 blog post by Tiffany about a trademark infringement lawsuit initiated by Levi Strauss against Abercrombie & Fitch over the back pocket design on the respective parties’ jeans. In that case the jury determined that the pocket designs, shown below, were not confusingly similar; thus, no trademark… Continue Reading