Hotels, Ice Cream, and Shoes as Canvases for Great Brands

Seth Godin has written about how Nike is a great brand because we can imagine what a Nike hotel would look like.

So, let me ask a slightly weirder question: If Nike were an ice cream flavor, what would it taste like?

It’s been a while . . . about seven months now.

As you’ll see, a few things have happened since April, when we last left you with these gems on the topic of trademark bullying: Stop Bullying the Entrepreneurs, What does Entrepreneur Mean, Anyway?, and Public Shaming is Not the Solution to Trademark

Who comes to mind when I list the following character traits: lives in a dystopian metropolis, has a deceased parent, fights criminals, rides a motorcycle, has seemingly-superhero strength, is fearless, has dark hair, and–oh, by the way–his name is “Wayne.” More than that, you learn all these facts about Wayne by watching a trailer for

— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney

Amazon’s patent (U.S. Patent No. 9,280,157) for a “System and Method for Transporting Personnel Within an Active Workspace” has been in the news recently.

The invention is described as a device for keeping human workers safe in an automated (i.e., robotic) work environment.  In the Background, the patent discusses the

— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney

Trademark enforcement, particularly in an age of social media and internet shaming, is tricky business.  Some brands (I’m looking at you, Louis Vuitton) seem to have enough market share to ignore the social backlash from their heavy-handed demand letters.  But companies that lack that kind of brand power

How much do I believe in federal registration of trademarks and brand names? Well, this much:

I’ve always been a big fan of practicing what you preach. Actually walking the talk. Not just talk.

That mindset helps explain why we stuck with the suggestive name of this blog, even after the experts recommended

— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney

Twitter, the social media giant, is being sued by its internet cousin, TWiT.  TWiT, which initially stood for This Week in Tech, is a netcast network providing audio and video tech-related content.  TWiT owns the registered service mark TWIT for visual and audio entertainment performances.

According to the

— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney

The term Comic Con has become synonymous with a certain culture.  In recent years, comic book conventions (and comic book culture), have become increasingly popular.  Annual comic book conventions are held in major cities across the U.S. and the world.  Many of these conventions are titled—officially or unofficially—“[City]