Across the United States this week, fans rejoiced as baseball returned. Teams took to the diamond and played the first games to count since last year’s World Series. Players, coaches, and fans all turned the page on last season, starting with a clean slate and an undefeated record. But while the players battled on baseball
Does Louis Vuitton’s Loss to a Parody Defense Justify an Award of Attorney Fees?
Earlier this month the Southern District of New York granted the defendant’s Motion for Summary in Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. My Other Bag , Inc. The fashion giant had brought suit against a California company over its sales of a canvas tote bag that included an image that “evoked” Louis Vuitton’s
The Juice Runs Out for Yankee Parody Trademarks
A good general business practice is to apply to register trademarks early. You’ll find out if there is an issue. You’ll have time to change rather than having to take everything off the shelf under the threat of a lawsuit. Yet a recent decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in New York Yankees
IKEA översittare: Bully or Baloney?
I once spent 20 minutes trying to figure out whether I was installing a metal insert for an NYMÖ lamp upside down, or rightside up. I’m still not sure I ever installed it correctly, but it’s still working. So there. But a new IKEA översittare is getting a lot of attention on the internet, and
The 140-Character Trademark Lesson
– Draeke Weseman, Weseman Law Office, PLLC
When I think of Twitter, I think of — it’s really hard to define because we’re still coming up with the vocabulary — but I think it’s defined a new behavior that’s very different than what we’ve seen before.
— Jack Dorsey, Twitter Co-Founder in 2009
My, how
Two Degrees Separation from Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake was featured in recent movies about Facebook (i.e., Oscar nominated The Social Network) and a movie about teachers who may use Teachbook (i.e., Bad Teacher with former girlfriend Cameron Diaz). Ironically, he is therefore somewhat connected to both parties in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Illinois (closer than the six
Do Not Wear a White Cowboy Hat, Boots & Underwear
Many visitors traveling to Times Square since 2002 have caught a glimpse of the Naked Cowboy®, a/k/a Robert Burck. He sings and officiates weddings (charging $499 and up). He even ran for the Mayor of New York at one point (although he ended up withdrawing from the race). For those of you who have not
Levi Pockets a Favorable Court of Appeals Decision
–Susan Perera, Attorney
Dusting off the archives, you may remember a 2009 blog post by Tiffany about a trademark infringement lawsuit initiated by Levi Strauss against Abercrombie & Fitch over the back pocket design on the respective parties’ jeans.
In that case the jury determined that the pocket designs, shown below, were not confusingly similar;
Civil War II: North (Face) vs. South (Butt)
If you’ve been paying attention on the trademark litigation front, you may have heard that The North Face recently brought a lawsuit against a freshman at the University of Missouri, Jimmy Winkelman, who has been selling clothing under the name The South Butt. Aside from the obvious trademark question of whether the consuming public
Shopping for a Trademark
Are you shopping for a trademark? Stores spend lots of money branding their names. Accordingly, many register their store names as trademarks. Over Thanksgiving while shopping in Turkey, I saw the store front sign Inci®.
I thought it was unique because you do not often see the ® on a store front sign. For example, you