Trademarks

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all the contestants and voters.

* Which Biglaw giants are “committing tens of millions of dollars in free legal services” to the gun control cause? Seems like they’re getting a great return on that investment… [New York Times / Dealbook]

* The EU fined JPMC and two other banks $552 million for manipulating futures. As if the EU has any future now! [Courthouse News Service]

* Lawsuit filed against teacher for 16-year-old bad grade that trapped lawyer in low prestige career. It’s like the Plasgraf of bad life choices. [Legal Cheek]

* Police called because man whistled “Closing Time.” Good. [Lowering the Bar]

* Celebrate the holidays with this buyer’s guide for trademark disputed beer and wine! [Trademark & Copyright Law Blog]

* Immigrant children need assistance coping with trauma. Pro bono lawyers can help. [Psychology Today]

* A short reaction to today’s piece on Tiffany Trump’s law school plans — and make sure to note the update to that story about her experience taking the LSAT. [Law and More]

Why is a hockey team going after Snoop?

Trump can now emblazon his name on buildings across China -- the exact opposite of what's happening in New York....

There's a whole lot of innovation going on in the legal technology space.

The battle over 'nasty woman' merchandise gets real.

* Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may have vowed to “open up our libel laws” if wins the election, but it turns out that despite his many threats to do so, he hasn’t actually sued a newspaper for libel in more than three decades. The last time he sued a newspaper for libel was in 1984, and his suit was ultimately dismissed. [Reuters]

* “If Billy had been passive or responded ‘Shut the f— up’ to Trump, Billy would have been out of a job the next day.” Billy Bush, formerly of Access Hollywood, has hired Orrick partner Marshall Grossman as he tries to negotiate his exit deal from NBC and further defend himself in light of his role in the now infamous Donald Trump “grab them by the p*ssy” tape. [Hollywood Reporter]

* New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wants to bring sports gambling to his state. He’s asked Ted Olson to take the fight to the Supreme Court, where he’ll argue that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is an unconstitutional assault on state sovereignty. What’s your over/under bet on this split decision? [WSJ Law Blog]

* Where do the members of Wall Street’s secret society of in-house lawyers for the world’s most powerful banks meet for their yearly gathering? Reportedly organized by Shearman & Sterling partner Robert Mundheim, the 2016 soirée was held at the Trianon Palace Versailles, a place opulent enough to discuss banking woes. [Big Law Business]

* A federal judge has temporarily enjoined the Houston College of Law (formerly known as South Texas College of Law) from using its new name because it’s confusingly similar to the University of Houston Law Center’s name, and has created a “substantial threat of irreparable injury” to the school. We’ll have more on this later. [Houston Chronicle]

* Rudy Giuliani may be hot to trot for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean his relatives are. His daughter, Caroline, has indicated that she’ll be casting her ballot for Hillary Clinton. [Big Law Business]

* Police in New Jersey have made their first creepy clown arrest. The alleged perp is a 12-year-old from Toms River who made an “unspecified threat” against her middle school from the Instagram account “Killerclownfromnj.” [Fault Lines / Mimesis Law]

* Just like your country, you’re young, scrappy, and hungry, but that unauthorized “Hamilton” merchandise you’re selling is a definite way to lose your shot — and find yourself on the receiving end of an IP lawsuit. [THR, Esq. / Hollywood Reporter]

* Why not combine your love for liquor with your love for the law? Be a beer and wine attorney! Raise your glass, because these are the three coolest job listings this week in that field, and two of them are in-house! Cheers! [Greedy Associates / FindLaw]

* Why haven’t you registered for the Academy for Private Practice yet? You can network with your peers at our cocktail reception *and* receive CLE credit. It’s taking place in Philadelphia on October 27 and 28, and we’re offering a huge discount. Use code “10YRDISCOUNT” to receive $100 off the price of your ticket! [Above the Law]

The outcome of this case could affect the Washington Redskins in its trademark battle.

* Alecia Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of teaming up with her husband and plotting to kill the managing partner of the law firm she was fired from, has taken a deal in her case and could serve anywhere from 10 to 45 years in prison under the terms of her plea agreement. She’ll be sentenced by the middle of January 2017. [Washington Post]

* Two heads are better than one, especially when it comes to taking over a Biglaw titan’s position as chairman at K&L Gates. Longtime chairman Peter Kalis will step down at the end of February, and come March, James Segerdahl will serve as the firm’s global managing partner, while Michael Caccese will serve as chairman of the firm’s management committee. We’ll have more on this later today. [Big Law Business]

* A big old welcome back to Biglaw: Brackett Denniston III, who has served as general counsel at GE for more than two decades, is throwing in the in-house towel to get back to the daily grind of law firm life. He recently rejoined Goodwin Procter — a firm where he previously worked for about 15 years — as senior counsel, and while there, he hopes to work on “hard cases” and mentor some of the firm’s younger lawyers. [WSJ Law Blog]

* What do the Redskins and the Slants have in common, aside from names that some may consider offensive? As it turns out, the football team and the rock band are fighting the same fight before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They both claim the First Amendment bars the USPTO from refusing to register their “disparaging” marks, and the Supreme Court may soon grant cert on either one of their cases. [Associated Press]

* If you’re planning to apply to law school during this admissions cycle despite the state of the job market for entry-level attorneys, then you may want to follow this 10-week timeline for submitting your applications. Don’t forget that the goal here is to get ahead of the game, take advantage of rolling admissions, and submit all of your materials before those pesky December LSAT test-takers. [U.S. News & World Report]

* “We believe the magistrate judge’s decision that Brendan Dassey’s confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law.” Prosecutors in Wisconsin have appealed the overturned conviction of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey. He’ll remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal. [New York Times]

* A Canadian judge is facing possible removal from the bench after asking this question to the accuser in a rape trial: “Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?” The judge also made other inappropriate remarks during the trial, and blames it on his failure to understand changes to the country’s sexual-assault laws. [ABC News]

* Desperate times sometimes call for really desperate measures? California-based Prism Patents is cutting its executives’ compensation by two-thirds in an attempt to come up with some cash. Its general counsel’s salary fell from $240,000 to $90,000, and the company’s CEO now makes $12 (not a typo), down from $300,000. [Big Law Business]

* The battle between Houston Law School and the Houston College of Law (formerly South Texas Law) rages on, and now the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is involved. Thanks to a complaint lodged by U. Houston, the USPTO has suspended Houston College’s trademark application for its new name. [Houston Chronicle via TaxProf Blog]

* It doesn’t matter if Romy and Michelle invented Post-It Notes or if serial inventor Alan Amron did, because your lawsuit against 3M is likely to be dismissed — especially if you’ve already settled a prior $400 million suit over the product’s inventorship for $12,000 and released the company from all of your future claims. [CBS Minnesota]

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

* Ivanka Trump has responded to a lawsuit filed by fashion house Aquazurra, which accused her of infringing upon the luxury brand’s shoe designs. Trump repeatedly denied copying the shoe designs in question, and asked that the suit be tossed out like a pair of last season’s pumps. Will this keep on kicking until after the election? [Huffington Post]

* A federal judge tossed a rather absurd suit that was filed against Starbucks, which alleged the company put a deceptive amount of ice in its cold drinks, writing, “If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, the Court has no difficulty concluding that a reasonable consumer would not be deceived.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Bad Boies, bad Boies, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they finance you? The Boies/Schiller Film Group, a small film finance company started by law firm founder David Boies and Zack Schiller (son of law firm co-founder Jonathan Schiller), is fronting the cash needed for comedy movie based on reality show “COPS.” [Law.com]

* Turing Pharmaceuticals, the drug company once led by disgraced pharma bro Martin Shkreli, has been accused of retaliation following the alleged sexual assault of its chief commercial officer at the hands of its interim chief financial officer. For his part in this mess, Shkreli is accused of sexist and vulgar behavior. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “The allegations of the suit are ridiculous. We are confident that the suit will be dismissed in short order.” Cassidy Recruiting is suing Holland & Knight partner Dean Schaner over a failed law firm placement, and it’s seeking between $200K and $1M in damages, all because Schaner used another recruiter to join the firm. [Big Law Business]

Go home, Citi.

Companies attempt to get these kinds of superlative marks all the time, but it's nice to see the USPTO think past the end of its own "Approved!" stamp once in a while.

The hip-hop artist has used Burberry's signature check, equestrian logo and brand name for promotional purposes.

There are "barley" and good names left.

The second dumbest thing to come out of Brexit...

* In case you haven’t been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that recently raised salaries: Kaye Scholer, Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst, and Kasowitz Benson. If you’re worried you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

* Brexit isn’t just the financial undoing of a nation anymore: Boston Beer, the brewer of Sam Adams Boston Lager, has filed an intent-to-use trademark application to turn Brexit into a hard cider made from apples sourced in the UK. Just close your eyes, think of England, and take a swig before the next time you look at your 401(k). [WSJ Law Blog]

* This term at the Supreme Court was a big letdown for conservatives. First, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, and then the high court continued to shift leftwards, leading liberals to prevail in some of the Court’s most influential decisions, from affirmative action to abortion rights. Better luck next term, conservatives. [Washington Post]

* Even though the school has offered buyouts to all of its tenured faculty and laid off staff, Dean Andrea Lyon says the worst is over for Valparaiso Law. Meanwhile, the school’s former dean says it could close, but doesn’t think it’s likely. Right now, he’s more worried about whether Valpo’s former students will survive. [Indiana Lawyer]

* Trinity Western University may have to take its law school aspirations to the Supreme Court of Canada. As it stands, there are three provinces that refuse to accredit the law school based on the fact that students and staff must sign a discriminatory covenant to abstain from sexual activity unless it’s between husband and wife. [CBC News]

* Former TV Judge Joe Brown can no longer practice law in Tennessee because he’s been placed on disability inactive status. Brown had a petition for discipline filed against him this fall after an unseemly outburst in court, which he now blames on complications from diabetes medication, hypertension, and stress. Get well soon. [Commercial Appeal]

First strike in the battle for Houston.