Collaborations in Creativity & the Law ®
Of course, loyal readers have been eagerly awaiting Part III of the series (see Part I and Part II) focusing on Tam’s intersection of federal trademark registration and the First Amendment.
In terms of the certain and practical implications flowing from the decision, it opens the door to a host of new trademark applications…
Over the weekend, the Star Tribune continued the growing drum beat of understandable excitement for Super Bowl LII, as it steadily approaches U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The article also plays the typical NFL-enabling drum beat of caution against local businesses that might see fit to fairly and truthfully reference the Super Bowl in…
-Wes Anderson, Attorney
Chicago pop-up bar “The Upside Down” rode a wave of popularity program all the way to Netflix’s legal department. And that’s where things took an unexpected turn!
Okay, that lede could probably be less obviously playful. You might say the same thing about Netflix’s cease-and-desist letter to the operators of “The Upside…
Two time academy award winner Olivia de Havilland seeks an expedited trial for the lawsuit involving her right of publicity. Olivia de Havilland, DBE v. FX Networks, et al, BC667011 (Superior Ct. Calif., June 30, 2017). The urgency is needed because Ms. de Havilland’s statutory right of publicity ceases at her death. She is…
Earlier this year, I posted about a dispute between candy company Mars Inc. and a small business based in Wisconsin, selling handmade fine chocolates under the mark CocoVaa.
In March, Mars Inc. filed a federal trademark infringement complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia, asserting that its registered CocoaVia® mark (Reg. No. 4179465), for…
Marketing types and legal types who review labels, be well advised to choose words used carefully.
In other words, if you believe you own rights in Pretzel Crisps as a trademark, it’s not wise to use the number of so-called “Crisps” as the serving size, especially with no trademark notice symbol.
Frito-Lay’s successful 2014…
— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney
There is an entire gaming sub-culture developed around watching others play video games. I’m not talking about gathering around the Game Cube in your friend’s basement and passing the only controller. “Let’s Play” videos are game play videos made by players and posted or streamed online. The videos…
–James Mahoney, Razor’s Edge Communications
Recently violinists Rhett Price and Shiva Chaitoo got two very different lessons on the downside of posting performances on the Internet.
According to an article in The Boston Globe, a fan of Price alerted him to a video of Chaitoo’s playing. Turns out, Chaitoo was pulling a Milli Vanilli,…
-Martha Engel, Attorney
What happens when a clothing manufacturer starts selling graphic t-shirts and sweatshirts, perhaps without doing a proper trademark search? Sometimes a lawsuit.
A trailblazing brewery when it comes to trademark disputes, Long Trail recently sued snowboard manufacturer and fellow Vermonter Burton for using TAKE A HIKE on shirts and sweatshirts. Here’s…
As the drum roll proceeds to the upcoming Midwest IP Institute in Minneapolis and sharing the podium with Joel MacMull of the Archer firm (and Simon Tam fame) on Thursday September 28, in a few days, I’ll be making a stop south of the border, at the University of Iowa College of Law, where it…