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Category Archives: Fair Use

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Prince, the DMCA, and Bullying

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, First Amendment, Infringement, Social Media

Minneapolis’ own hometown hero Prince Rogers Nelson, formerly and currently known simply as “Prince,” has been in the news quite often in 2013. It began with his surprise, limited ticket performances in January, which he followed up with a surprise concert to close out the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Prince has also made legal… Continue Reading

No Escape

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Infringement

This post is probably a bit dated for the readers that are on the cutting edge of developments in the film industry.  But since that may only be a small subset of our readers, I thought this information was worth sharing. Apparently, a brazen independent film director managed to surreptitiously shoot nearly an entire film on-site… Continue Reading

Super (Bowl) Sunday, Ads Coming Soon

By on Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Fair Use, Food, Marketing, Trademarks

Looks like the V Bar at The Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, is having some sort of function on “Super Sunday” – February 3rd (that date sounds familiar): Here’s a question for those responsible for clearing the ad shown above: Why bother with attempting to invite imagination (especially when the visual aspects require none) by using constrained… Continue Reading

THQ Goes Down

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, Infringement

As 2012 winds down and we all recover from what I’m sure was a wonderful Festivus celebration (I know I’m still feeling the effects of a particularly bloody Feats of Strength and an overly ambitious Airing of Grievances directed at me by my family members), it seems time to wrap-up last month’s post about a tattoo artist who sued… Continue Reading

I Like My Waffles With Syrup And A Little Splash of Pretentiousness

By on Posted in Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks

If you were a Louis Vuitton waffle, would you eat yourself?  (Admittedly, this opening line was shamelessly intended to provide an opportunity for including that hyperlink.) Apparently, this is now a possibility thanks to the efforts of Los Angeles based artist Andrew Lewicki.  For reasons that will likely always remain unknown to me (perhaps because of my modest Minnesota upbringing), Mr. Lewicki… Continue Reading

Successful Evolution of an Unlicensed Business Model?

By on Posted in Agreements, Articles, Branding, Contracts, Fair Use, First Amendment, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks, Truncation

Brand owners and managers may wonder, is a trademark license required when another’s unregistered color scheme is used? Depending on the facts, it may very well be. About four years ago brand owners scored a major victory in LSU v. Smack Apparel, when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to the existence and successful enforcement of… Continue Reading

Apple and Google Set to Litigate Their Patents in the Court of Market Opinion

By on Posted in Fair Use, Famous Marks, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Patents, Search Engines, Technology, Touch, Trademarks, USPTO

- Jason Voiovich, Director of Corporate Marketing, Logic PD Last week, the US Patent and Trademark Office conferred upon Apple the Excalibur of intellectual property: The GUI patent that covers the general operation of today’s smartphone and tablet universe.  Officially, it is patent 8,223,134 and you can read all about it here, or in excruciating… Continue Reading

Godin on Trademark Bullying?

By on Posted in Branding, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Infringement, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

Seth Godin is someone we follow closely here on DuetsBlog, and he has just weighed in on the “trademark bullying” topic. We haven’t always agreed with his trademark advice, especially his misapprehension of the benefits of federal registration. But, it’s hard to argue with this conclusion: “When a brand becomes a bully, it loses something… Continue Reading

Update on Pinterest and Copyright Infringement: Still Pinning

By on Posted in Almost Advice, Copyrights, Fair Use, Infringement

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney Earlier this spring, I discussed copyright liability for Pinterest users, anticipating that the debate would continue into the summer. But concerns over pinning copyrighted material has petered out faster than the public’s interest in Tom Cruise, and after attending a fantastic Social Media and Law panel discussion on Tuesday, I’m wondering if… Continue Reading

Using Old Starsky and Hutch to Sell New Furniture?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, Infringement, Marketing, Television, Trademarks

There is a new billboard advertisement on the scene in Minneapolis, Minnesota, complete with multiple meanings and at least one obvious third party brand reference. Multiple meanings because I suspect there may be a generational divide on the obvious Starsky and Hutch brand reference (trademark data of owner Columbia Pictures can be found here, here, and… Continue Reading

Pinterest, Thy Name is Fair Use

By on Posted in Almost Advice, Copyrights, Fair Use, First Amendment, Infringement

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney   First, there was copyright. Then, there was Pinterest. And now, there is drama. The words “copyright infringement” and “Pinterest” have been thrown around a lot recently, mainly due to the blog post of one photographer/lawyer, Kirsten Kowalski. Kirsten recently blogged about her decision to break up with Pinterest aka delete her inspiration boards, and… Continue Reading

Lunesta and Stoogesta?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, First Amendment, Marketing, Trademarks

    It appears that Lunesta (eszopiclone) — apparently, the top prescribed branded sleep aid –  has a new fan, but as you’ll see, and hopefully for the Farrelly brothers, the newcomer won’t be anything close to a competitive medicinal product: Stoogesta (nimbiscus dumbphondenol). Stoogesta video on YouTube can be viewed here. We’ll have to wait until April… Continue Reading

How Fashionable is the Louis Vuitton “Trademark Bully” Label?

By on Posted in Articles, Branding, Copyrights, Counterfeits, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, First Amendment, Infringement, International, Marketing, Social Networking, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

There has been quite a flap surrounding the poster and invitation used by the University of Pennsylvania Law School to promote Penn Intellectual Property Group’s Fashion Law Symposium, scheduled for a week from tomorrow. The symposium appears to be designed as a serious affair, boasting an all-star cast of general counsel from the fashion industry, including those from… Continue Reading

Louboutin Red-Sole & Surrounding Contrast: An Implied Trademark Limitation

By on Posted in Articles, Branding, Fair Use, Infringement, International, Law Suits, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

The Louboutin lacquered red sole trademark is the subject of great debate in the trademark world, fashion industry, popular news media, and among law school academics and friends of the court. I’m just not seeing it. I really don’t see a viable trademark claim here for Louboutin. Not for the reasons found by the district court — I… Continue Reading

Louboutin Red: Blending Into the Background

By on Posted in Branding, Fair Use, Infringement, Law Suits, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

A purely hypothetical puzzle, but I’m wondering, would Christian Louboutin have a viable trademark claim if Yves Saint Laurent sold women’s shoes in boxes bearing the above seemingly random grid of letters, each letter having equal type, style, font, color and emphasis? For those of you who answered with a strong “of course not,” I suspect your answer must change if selected… Continue Reading

Chevy Silverado Super Bowl Ad

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, False Advertising, Food, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Television, Trademarks

Absorbing all the television commercials in between football action on the field can be as much fun on Super Bowl Sunday as the actual game itself, at least for trademark and marketing types, especially when your favorite team isn’t even on the field. One of my personal favorites from this past weekend’s Super Bowl XLVI was the… Continue Reading

Insuring a Great Super Bowl Trademark Fight

By on Posted in Advertising, Almost Advice, Articles, Branding, Fair Use, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

So, tomorrow is the big day, the big game, or whatever else other intimidated advertisers might call it. I just want to find the best deal on a flat screen television today! But, more to Mike Masnick’s point on Techdirt about the NFL’s reputation as a “trademark bully,” and his challenge to advertisers — “It’s the Super Bowl…. Continue Reading

A Legal Obligation to Enforce Trademark Rights?

By on Posted in Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

When trademark owners are accused of bullying and shamed in public, a common and knee-jerk defensive response to justify the cease and desist letter or enforcement action is: ”We have a legal duty and obligation to police and enforce our trademark rights.” And, some might even go on to say: ”If we don’t enforce our mark against this use,… Continue Reading

Would the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up

By on Posted in Fair Use

Before I launch into this post, I must provide the disclaimer that I am not a Tweeter and I do not regularly use Twitter.  That being said, here we go. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Twitter is quickly becoming sycophancy central. “Fake” Twitter accounts abound throughout the Twitter-verse and, frankly, I find… Continue Reading

Rapala Taunts a Monster?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

Happy Mother’s Day!  So, it’s time again to talk a little fishing billboard branding, I guess. We have enjoyed discussing Rapala billboard ads over the last couple of years, the “attracting cats” billboard, the “More hits than Google” billboard, the “Whudjagiddumon” billboard, and now the “Do you believe in monsters?” billboard. Note the upper case “G”… Continue Reading