Trademarks
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Intellectual Property
Findings U Can Trust: 'Offensive' Trademarks Return To The Supreme Court
Scandal and obscenity sells. The question of whether it should sell with the government’s imprimatur remains to be seen. -
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Intellectual Property
Foul Ball? The Real Consideration When Dealing With 'Scandalous' And 'Immoral' Trademarks
Whether SCOTUS will side with the trademark applicant is one thing, but the other consideration that companies need to address is whether they actually want to tread in that territory even if they can acquire federal trademark registration.
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Intellectual Property
Walking The Line: 3 Considerations When Policing Third-Party Fair Use Of Trademarks
Policing third-party use of trademarks requires a rational approach infused with a good dose of diligence and patience. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.25.19
* In case you somehow missed it, according to Attorney General Bill Barr’s summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, there was no collusion with Russia and with regard to obstruction, “[w]hile this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” And that’s just fine, because AG Barr exonerated Trump himself. [New York Times]
* Speaking of AG Barr, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler says he wants to call Barr in to testify due to the “very concerning discrepancies and final decision making” at the DOJ when it came to the Mueller report. [The Hill]
* Rudy Giuliani wants apologies and he wants them now: From legislators to former CIA chiefs, Trump’s personal attorney is demanding apologies from all manner of people who said there was evidence of Russian collusion. [Business Insider]
* Want to see what the Mueller report actually said? Luckily, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a FOIA lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit to get the contents of the full report within an hour of it being submitted to AG Barr. [National Law Journal]
* Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been hired as a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason’s
ASS LawAntonin Scalia Law School, where he’ll be teaching a study abroad class titled “Creation of the Constitution.” [Fourth Estate]* I like dollars, I like diamonds, I like — paper cups? Okurr… When she’s not suing people for defamation, Cardi B is applying for a trademark for her catchphrase “Okurrr” to sell t-shirts, hoodies, and paper goods like cups and posters. [TMZ; BBC]
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Intellectual Property
Trumped By 'Covfefe' II: Yet Another Reason NOT To Trademark Trending Names And Catchphrases
Don't even waste your time, because the USPTO is really pushing back on this issue. -
Intellectual Property
Leaving A Mark: What Mission Products Holdings, Inc. V. Tempnology, LLC May (Or May Not) Mean For Trademark Licenses In Bankruptcy
Based on oral arguments, how SCOTUS will rule on this issue is anyone’s guess. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.07.19
* Senator Ted Cruz has proposed a constitutional amendment that would set term limits for those in the Senate (two six-year terms) and House of Representatives (three two-year terms) because “[t]erm limits on members of Congress offer a solution to the brokenness we see in Washington, D.C.” [Business Insider]
* Speaking of terms, the grand jury’s 18-month term in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation was set to expire this past weekend, but Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court extended it for up to six months since the jurors’ work is “in the public interest.” [CNN]
* The federal judiciary has enough money to stay afloat until January 11, and then, per a spokesman for the U.S. courts, “[i]t’s really a judge-by-judge, court-by-court determination” when the courts start operating under the Antideficiency Act “to support the exercise of Article III judicial power.” [Fortune]
* Hot on the heels of its decision that a ban on racist trademark registrations violated the First Amendment, the Supreme Court will decide whether a similar ban on “scandalous” marks is unconstitutional as well. [Law360]
* Do we need a Rooney Rule for federal law clerks? According to Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California, it might be the solution to increasing the amount of diversity — of people of color and of law school representation — in the clerks’ candidate pool. We’ll have more on this later today. [National Law Journal]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Technology
ICE Seizes Over 1 Million Websites With No Due Process; Apparently Unaware That Copyright & Trademark Are Different
Over the years, we’ve written an awful lot about asset forfeiture and how it is basically the government stealing shit they want with almost no due process. But the reason we started writing about asset forfeiture was when ICE used that process to seize a bunch of websites based entirely on the claims of the […] -
Intellectual Property
Why Criminal Forfeiture Of The Mongols Nation's Trademark Is An Outlaw Idea
Criminal forfeiture is a dangerous tool when it comes to intellectual property. -
Trademarks
Missing The Forest For The Trees: Some Considerations For Your Trademark Protection Strategy
Trademark protection requires a trademark owner to weigh a number of competing factors, and developing and executing a trademark protection strategy should always involve a qualified trademark practitioner from the get-go. -
Intellectual Property
Boys Versus Girls, Trademark Edition
The Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts are having an IP kerfuffle over the word 'Scouts.' -
Game Of Memes? HBO, Trump, And Trademark Parody
Reasonable minds can (and do) disagree on the president’s 'Sanctions are Coming' meme, but it’s not 'trademark misuse.'
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.02.18
* Police questioned Brett Kavanaugh over a bar fight he and Chris Dudley apparently got into — wait, Chris Dudley? This whole “Brett + Alcohol = Violence” equation is becoming a pattern. And a pattern he lies about under oath. [NY Times]
* Department of Justice sues California over its net neutrality law. So much for states’ rights. [Courthouse News Service]
* Law firms are merging at a record pace. This should probably worry people more. [American Lawyer]
* This reads more like an exam question than real life. Is it a trademark violation to spell fiance as Feyoncé when selling engagement gifts? What if we add that they also sold stuff that references “Single Ladies”? [Law360]
* Sidley Austin earns less than the midlevel exception. Or about what Chris Dudley was worth. [American Lawyer]
* The Supreme Court is open for business. Will they further limit access to justice this Term? Probably, yeah. [National Law Journal]
* “SEC Suit Over Elon Musk’s Tweets Sets an Example for Execs Online.” Indeed: Don’t Date Grimes. [Corporate Counsel]
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Intellectual Property
In-N-Out Lawyers Take Oft-Overlooked Path Of 'Not Being Jerks'
Cease-and-desist letters are usually bullying. It doesn't have to be that way. -
Intellectual Property
No, You Can’t Copyright a Taste -- And Other Dumb Things You Can’t Get IP Protection Over
Sometimes, copyright or trademark protection is just not appropriate. -
Intellectual Property
Honey Badger And The Intersection Between Trademark Law And Free Speech
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t about anything -- except trademark law. -
Intellectual Property
When Fame May Not Lead To Fortune: Addressing Trademarks In Personal Names
Just because you're famous doesn't mean you don't have to establish secondary meaning in your name. -
Intellectual Property
Less Than Zero: Why Blurring The Line Between Generic And Descriptive Is Bad For Trademarks
In essence here, the Federal Circuit expanded the scope of what can be considered a 'generic' trademark. Peachy. -
Intellectual Property
Losing Your Brand Identity: How To Commit Trademark Genericide Without Really Trying
There are many reasons why 'genericide' can happen, but in the end, the result is always the same -- the loss of valuable intellectual property.