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The GeekView IP Weeks(ish) in Review analyzes several trademark, copyright and advertising disputes and news from around the country. It provides analyses of several claims, counterclaims, missteps and so on, and highlights some of the steps...
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This article examines a recent dispute which demonstrates the effects of a somewhat-dusty cranny of trademark law: political trademarks. In the case in question, a company filed a lawsuit against federal officials seeking to prevent these...
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The GeekView IP Weeks(ish) in Review analyzes several trademark, copyright and advertising disputes and news from around the country. It provides analyses of several claims, counterclaims, missteps and so on, and highlights some of the steps...
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In spite of the title of this article, it does not involve alliteration; rather, this article examines a trademark dispute involving a band which calls themselves "LMFAO" that implicates the "immoral or scandalous" prohibition to trademark...
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The GeekView IP Week(ish) in Review analyzes several trademark, copyright and advertising disputes and news from around the country. It provides analyses of several claims, counterclaims, missteps and so on, and highlights some of the steps...
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This article analyzes a copyright infringement lawsuit by the author of a (very) short poem against several parties involved in the creation and selling of pillows and similar goods. The article explains that the defendants allegedly...
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The GeekView IP Week(ish) in Review analyzes several trademark, copyright and advertising disputes and news from around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides...
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While infringing another's trademarks can often lead to a great deal of financial pain for a company, in the case highlighted by this article, the alleged infringer could suffer a great deal of reputational damage as well. The article relates...
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This article expounds on a simple lesson--when you file a trademark registration involving many aspects of a living person, you need to obtain that individual's consent for your registration to be successful. To illustrate this point, the...
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Sears is a large, famous corporation--for many years, the tallest building in the world was named after it. Two 13-year-olds running a lawn care business are, obviously, not. This article notes an instance where two 13-year-olds' lawn...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark and copyright disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of intellectual property...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark and copyright disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of intellectual property...
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Skee-Ball is a semi-popular form of mindless fun wherein one rolls a small ball into concentric rings, aiming for the smallest ring in the center. As this article details, it is also a trademark, and the holder of the Skee-Ball trademark is...
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This article reviews a series of lawsuits against large auto manufacturer Honda, which allege that Honda misrepresented the gas mileage its Hybrid Civic model could realize (by approximately 20 MPG). The article examines the settlement...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark disputes and false advertising lawsuits from around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. This edition...
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This article relates the story of a lawsuit filed by an Iraq War veteran (named Sgt. Sarver) against various parties connected with the making and production of the movie The Hurt Locker. The article relates the facts which caused him...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark and copyright disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of intellectual property...
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Can yoga be copyrighted? At least one yogi has copyrighted yoga--specifically, a sequence of yoga poses known as "Bikram Yoga." The holder of the Bikram Yoga intellectual property (both copyrights and trademarks) has recently filed a...
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The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has drawn a great deal of attention from basically anyone who uses the internet. As this article explains, SOPA seeks to stop piracy of copyrighted material on the internet by a series of penalties and other...
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Jelly Belly, the manufacturer of popular candy (especially its famous jelly beans), holds a federally registered trademark on the phrase "The Original Gourmet Jelly Bean" (as well as other related phrases). Original Gourmet Food Company...
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Chick-fil-A is well known for selling chicken sandwiches; their distinctive advertisements feature cows exhorting sandwich-seekers to "EAT MOR CHIKIN", a phrase on which Chick-fil-A holds a federally registered trademark. Chick-fil-A recently...
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This article is a follow-up to a prior article featuring several borderline-absurd intellectual property lawsuits (just in time for Thanksgiving!). The article analyzes several recently-filed trademark and copyright infringement (among...
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Intellectual property related lawsuits often have a tinge of the absurd to themselves. Many intellectual property lawsuits (such as the ones highlighted in this article) have to do with trademarks, which are intimately tied up with...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of intellectual property related...
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This article looks at an ongoing trademark dispute between National Grange, a rural advocacy non-profit, and The Brooklyn Grange, a commercial, organic, rooftop farm in (of course) New York City. National Grange is suing The Brooklyn Grange for...
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The Republican Presidential debates have been a big news story in November, as the fortunes of various candidates have waxed and waned. This article looks at the contest through a trademark attorney's eyes and asks a key question: what...
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You create a business and put a great deal of effort into building a strong brand for it. However, you do not lock up the most intuitive domain name for your brand. Someone comes along and registers that domain name, and then offers...
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This article provides an example of a Subaru "brandvangelist." A brandvangelist is someone who loves a company's products or services so much that they will tell friends, family, and anyone else with ears how great that company's products...
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Did you know that the Occupy Wall Street movement was started by a Canadian activist organization? Just because AdBusters started OWS, though, doesn't mean that AdBusters owns the brand. Given that the Occupy movement has spread to a...
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This article highlights recent action taken by the Attorney General of California against three plastic bottle makers regarding the bottle makers' claims that their bottles are 100% biodegradable. As the article notes, the bottle makers likely...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of trademark infringement claims,...
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This article examines a product put out by the non-profit GreenBlue, which aims to help consumers understand how to recycle properly. Their main product towards this aim is called the "Packaging Recovery Label System" (PRLS). The article...
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There are many schools of thought regarding what makes a good brand name. This article presents a trademark lawyer's take on it. The premise of this article is that a distinctive brand is more easily protected, and therefore, to legal...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several intellectual property disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of trademark infringement...
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This article details two false advertising petitions recently filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The allegations? Ford and Chrysler advertises their cars as being made in America, when in reality key parts (or the entire car)...
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Trademark bullying, which occurs when a (usually large) trademark holder over-steps its trademark rights with respect to another (usually smaller) trademark holder in an effort to make the target company change its trademark. Trademark trolls...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of trademark infringement claims,...
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In the immediate wake of Steve Jobs' passing, a graphic design student created a version of Apple's iconic logo to pay tribute to the man who brought Apple to the forefront of modern technology. The logo consists of an image of an apple...
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The trademark infringement lawsuit between Wella, a Proctor & Gamble subsidiary specializing in hair-related beauty products, and Willa, a start-up which markets hair and skin care products to teenagers, reached the pages of the New York Times as...
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Phrases describing how a product works can become trademarks if the trademark applicant can show that they have "acquired distinctiveness." Brand recognition is one way to do this. This article chronicles an attempt by Apple to register...
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The GeekView IP Week in Review analyzes several trademark disputes around the country, explains what is at stake, and explains where the parties involved might have gone wrong. It provides several examples of trademark infringement claims,...
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By now, pretty much anyone who uses the internet much at all has seen Facebook's ubiquitous "Like" button on many, many webpages (it's on this one, and you won't have to look too hard for it). LinkedIn also has a "Like" feature, although it...
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The New York Yankees are suing a clothing company named Evil Enterprises, alleging infringement (and more) of several trademarks held by the Yankees. Evil Enterprises' defense is that their marks are just parodies of the popular (or unpopular,...
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Lara Pearson uses a trademark lawsuit by the Hells Angels regarding a t-shirt to illustrate two points. First, she explains the various types of trademarks the Hells Angels use to protect their distinctive identifiers (or, as business people...
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The impossible question . . . how much for a house, car, or trademark?
This cannot be answered accurately without lots more information. While you’d know where to start with the house or the car, you may not know what information to...
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An important 2010 Trademark and Trial Appeal Board decision determined that Obama-themed pajamas could not be validly trademarked. Lara Pearson reviews the grounds of the decision and what it means for her clients in this post on her...
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In this article, Nevada attorney Lara Pearson goes over news regarding the FTC's "Green Guides", which inform marketers and other advertisers of how to avoid making unfair and/or deceptive environmental advertising claims. In late 2010, the FTC...
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"Gripe sites" are internet web sites which air a grievance about a particular company, product, service, or anything else about which you can complain. Because these sites' names often take the form of "CompanyXSucks.com" or...
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Lara Pearson provides a reminder that intellectual property is all around us, and that many businesses overlook the intellectual property they own or to which they can claim a right. She explains that almost all businesses work with copyrights,...
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Lara Pearson recognizes that the depressed economy has forced business owners to reevaluate their strategic game plan, but she insists that this does not have to mean abandoning plans to protect intellectual property. Pearson provides the key steps...