March 2014

Another father-daughter trip to Bath & Body Works (BBW) this past weekend revealed that his and her Twilight Woods personal body care products are still available for sale:

Still, because ten days ago, the federal district court in the Southern District of New York rejected BBW’s attempt to have the trademark infringement and dilution claims 

In case you missed yesterday’s post, my colleague Derek Allen and I finally answered the age-old question: What’s better than a post by a DuetsBlog writer? Obviously, a DuetsBlog post by 2 DuetsBlog writers, especially these guys (you can’t tell but we’re pointing our thumbs at ourselves).

We’re sure you’d love to hear us both eloquently debate and disparage each other’s opinions on just about any topic, but we decided to start with our top 10 fictional lawyers from television and film.  Yesterday was 6-10 and today, we make the big reveal: numbers 1-5. Who will be out on the town celebrating tonight? Who will be considered the biggest snub? Dear readers, you won’t know unless you join us below the jump . . .Continue Reading The Top 10 Lawyers of TV and Film: Numbers 1-5

– Derek Allen, Attorney –

In what we believe is a Duetsblog first, two of us — Tim Sitzmann and I — are teaming up to write a post.  (Even if this isn’t the first time a post has had two authors, much like European explorers who claimed to “discover” land that people were already living on, we are going to pretend that it is.)  And we have tackled a topic that a momentous event like this demands: the top 10 lawyers in the history of TV and Film.  We’re doing 6-10 today and 1-5 tomorrow.  So without further ado, and without any explanation whatsoever of our criteria, please join us below the jump . . .Continue Reading The Top 10 Lawyers of TV and Film: Numbers 6-10

The lawsuit that we told you about regarding a dispute over the trademark rights to the use of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD continues.  See https://www.duetsblog.com/2013/10/articles/trademarks/battle-between-harper-lee-and-her-hometown-museum-over-use-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird/.  The defendant Monroe County Heritage Museum brought a motion to dismiss.   The Court denied the motion and allowed author Harper Lee to pursue her claims.

One of the many

– Susan Hopp, Partner, 45 Degrees/Minneapolis

I recently stopped at Shuang Hur Oriental Market (my go-to store for Vietnamese coffee) on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, and came away with an interesting branding experience.

As I passed the fresh meat counter with pork hooves and other un-named animal parts, I was reminded that I’m not their primary target audience – I like that – but I always feel welcome and I know the younger staff speaks English. I trust the store.

On the way out, my eye caught an entire aisle of instant ramen noodle soups! Wow. I had never even tried one and now here were literally hundreds of options from China, Thailand, South Korea, and more. I thought this could be the place to find an authentic product with the best texture and taste.

Well, I quickly realized this might not be a quick grab and go because I had nothing to base my selection on. This is something that does not usually happen in America. We live in a highly advertised and branded world and since we grow up immersed in this culture, we naturally know how things relate to each other. So it was interesting and surprising and, yes, a bit frustrating to walk into an environment where I see that products are indeed highly branded, based on something each company feels is important, but the brands didn’t mean anything to me. I was not emotionally connected to any of them.Continue Reading Trying Something New

Every now and then I see an advertising campaign that really takes me by surprise and compels me to gush over it publicly.  While I suppose there is no particular recipe for the campaigns that really draw me in, I have noticed a strong emotional component and a conscious effort to sell the company, rather

–Ben Kwan, Attorney

Work brought me to Harrisburg, Pa. during the first part of this week.  Two colleagues and I finished with our business early Wednesday, so we took in the sights at the National Civil War Museum, which sits atop a marvelous hill overlooking the Susquehanna River Valley.  If you ever have occasion

You may have previously read my post about apparel companies spoofing luxury fashion brands, but in Milan, one luxury fashion brand spoofed brands perhaps a little more familiar to the average Joe or Jane.

Moschino’s capsule collection, “Fast Fashion – Next Day After The Runway,” drew some criticism  for its treatment of some of

Simon Bennett, partner and Rachel Cook, associate Fox Williams LLP

Global entertainment giant Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation recently lost its case against Comic Enterprises Limited, a UK company that runs several live entertainment venues in the UK, in what has been billed as a modern day David vs. Goliath. The subject of the dispute: