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Category Archives: Infringement

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There’s always money in the banana-based intellectual property rights…

By on Posted in Advertising, Agreements, Branding, Contracts, Copyrights, Famous Marks, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks

In its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the Rolling Stone ranked the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico at number 13 – not bad for the band’s very first album.  The album had a simple cover, some would say iconic, cover:   And get this: the banana peel was actually a… Continue Reading

New Challenges for So-Called “Patent Trolls”

By on Posted in Guest Bloggers, Idea Protection, Infringement, Law Suits, Patents

- Sri Sankaran, Patent Attorney, Winthrop & Weinstine Recent developments in executive, legislative, and judicial branches present new challenges for patent trolls (or less pejoratively “non-practicing entities” or “assertion entities”). The White House recently outlined a series of initiatives to address the impact that patent assertion entities have on the economy.  The administration cited a… Continue Reading

NY ♥ TM

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Idea Protection, Infringement, Marketing, SoapBox, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

Last week I stopped at a local wine and beer store to pick up a bottle of wine to bring to a friend’s dinner party (but also couldn’t resist purchasing a 4-pack of Surly’s Bitter Brewer. I had never seen it before, but highly recommend it). As I walked back to my car I noticed a pile of… Continue Reading

“Frankenstein” Class Action Suit Against YouTube Dies in Court…For Now

By on Posted in Copyrights, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology

- Ryan Francis, Law Student, William Mitchell Law School      vs.   Is he alive? Not really, but the Manhattan Second District Court recently referenced the Frankenstein monster in The Football Ass’n Premiere League Ltd. v. YouTube Inc., No. 07 CIV. 3582 LLS, 2013 WL 2096411 (S.D.N.Y. May 15, 2013). In this case, plaintiffs alleged… Continue Reading

EA Sports Uses Tim Tebow

By on Posted in Infringement

I’ve previously blogged about a pending lawsuit involving former college athletes (here and here) and whether they should get paid when universities and business partners use their likenesses.  Brent Lorentz, a Chambers USA-recognized rising star in the world of litigation, blogged about a similar suit on Monday.  The plot thickened last Thursday due to some internet… Continue Reading

Distinguishing the Fictional From the Real: Names and Brands in Television and Movies

By on Posted in Agreements, Branding, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, First Amendment, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Television, Trademarks

We have an interesting question to answer, leading us into the holiday weekend, during which I suspect a few movies will be watched by more than a few marketing types and trademark types: “Is it trademark infringement if a fictional company or product in a movie or television drama bears the same name or brand as a real… Continue Reading

Louboutin International Trademark Dispute

By on Posted in Branding, Infringement, International, Trademarks

Those of us who love fashion and have closets overflowing with more pairs of shoes than we probably need are likely familiar with Louboutin pumps. These sky-high heels have a very distinctive look and design. Louboutin heels have recently been the subject of trademark controversy here in the United States. As Tiffany Blofield noted in a blog… Continue Reading

Putt-Putt Has No Miniature Trademark Rights

By on Posted in Branding, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Trademarks

With all the golf coverage of the Masters Tournament and the coveted Green Jacket, this past weekend, it seemed particularly appropriate to report on a recent trademark case involving the miniature variety of golf: Putt-Putt, LLC v. 416 Constant Friendship, LLC (April 5, 2013 D. Md.). So, I learned two things this weekend, Adam Scott… Continue Reading

Employee Wrongfully Terminated for Refusing to Engage in Criminal Copyright Infringement

By on Posted in Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts

Adam Young worked for an architecture firm, Nortex Foundation Designs Inc. in Fort Worth Texas as a drafter. He was hired in 2001 and designed foundation plans based on copyrighted architectural designs that Nortex provided to him. In 2010, Young received a plan being drafted for a homeowner that had a black stamp which stated… Continue Reading

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

When Will We Run Out of Words to Trademark?

By on Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

-John Reinan, Senior Director, Media Relations, Fast Horse I’ve been thinking about trademark bullying, and I was all set to write a surprising piece standing up for the bullies. You know, the big companies that spend giant piles of money developing products and services, and then hiring marketing geniuses like me to name them, and… Continue Reading

Body Shaping Manufacturers Butting Heads Over Cami Designs

By on Posted in Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Patents

- Jeffrey Stone, Patent Attorney, Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. Two previously unrelated topics, Spanx and the Real Housewives television shows, are now connected by a legal dispute that is shaping up to be a real battle of the bulge (or muffin top) with neither party seemingly interested in smoothing things over. Thanks to recent, and ongoing, design patent… Continue Reading

Canine Inspired Copyright Confusion?

By on Posted in Agreements, Contracts, Copyrights, Infringement, Marketing, Social Networking, Trademarks

When we mention confusion on DuetsBlog, we’re typically referring to the well-known likelihood of confusion test of trademark infringement. But today, we’re focused on the apparent confusion many have about the important question of: When copyright protection comes into being. If you ever have wondered whether something is or has been “copyrighted,” this post is for… Continue Reading

Sheetz Flushing Subway’s Footlong TM Hope?

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks, TTAB, USPTO

It has been almost six months since oral argument before the TTAB over the question of whether the word “footlong” is a trademark or a generic name for a type of sandwich. What type of sandwich you ask? One about twice as long as a six inch sandwich, let’s say about twelve inches in length, making it, oh, about a foot long. Needless… Continue Reading

My Namesake Sues To Protect Its Famous Mark

By on Posted in Branding, Counterfeits, Dilution, False Advertising, Famous Marks, Infringement, Law Suits, Sight, Trademarks

Coincidentally (or perhaps by design), Tiffany and Company (“Tiffany”) filed suit on Valentine’s Day against Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”) to protect its trademark with respect to engagement rings.  We know from our prior post regarding Tiffany’s amicus brief filed in support of Christian Louboutin that Tiffany actively protects its brand. If you are like me,… Continue Reading

McDonald’s Trade Dress? State Farm is There.

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

Passing by a roadside billboard recently (below is a miniature version I found in the Minneapolis skyway system), my first thought was, wow, McDonald’s is getting into the juicy lucy business: Until more focus revealed that State Farm Insurance is the one behind the ad. Look familiar? No doubt burgers and car insurance are totally different lines of business and… 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

The Not-So-Happy Place of Genericness

By on Posted in Articles, Food, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks

Restaurant trade dress is possible to own when the claimed trade dress is distinctive and non-functional, think Taco Cabana. Restaurant trade dress can be so unique in the marketplace that distinctiveness is presumed with a finding of inherent distinctiveness. When not so obviously unique, distinctiveness also can be established with the more difficult proof of secondary meaning. Remember 1992? The… Continue Reading

The Louboutin Color Trademark Controversy Continues

By on Posted in Branding, Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

While watching Lena Dunham stumble in her 6-inch Louboutin red-soled heels during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards broadcast, our comments revolved around the fact that her dress was so long, she should have worn slippers instead of stilettos.  We believed that Ms. Dunham should have waited to wear the Louboutin shoes until she was wearing… Continue Reading

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

By on Posted in Advertising, Infringement, Law Suits, Trademarks

Those of you with an interest in cosmetics or trainwrecks have perhaps noticed the trademark dispute that has boiled over regarding Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian’s use of “Khroma” in their cosmetic line.   Apparently, the sisters have run into double, double, toil and trouble because there were preexisting marks of “Chroma” and “Kroma” used in… Continue Reading

Supreme Court Upholds Nike’s Promise to “Break the Wrist, and Walk Away”

By on Posted in Articles, Infringement, Law Suits, Trademarks

Not every day does the United States Supreme Court weigh in on a topic impacting the trademark world, but it did so yesterday in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., a case illustrating what can happen when a trademark plaintiff wants to pull the plug and end the lawsuit it started in a walkaway (or as martial arts instructor… Continue Reading