The question of LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION is the signal test to determine if a trademark infringement claim is valid. This blog is about trademark law, copyright law, free speech (mostly as it relates to the Internet) and legal issues related to blogging.
As for me, I'm Ron Coleman, a trademark lawyer in New York. More precisely, I'm a commercial litigator, business attorney and "IP maven" with a special interest in copyright and trademark infringement involving the Internet--including advising clients how to avoid them. I am also a writer and notional general counsel of the largely notional Media Bloggers Association. My firm, Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP, has offices in New York and New Jersey. I'm also a contributor to a few other blogs, including Dean's World.
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They call him The Writing Guy™
My old friend David Krell, who sells the eminently attractive service of working with lawyers and law firms at not writing like lawyers, and I had a little chat about what blogging here does for “the brand” that is me. You can read it here.
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March 19th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Not writing like a lawyer is generally a good thing — not only in the context of blogging but everywhere — particularly where writing like a lawyer is equated with stilted, archaic language that doesn’t actually come out of anyone’s mouth ever. A judge I know was commenting the other day about how terrible virtually every brief that came across his desk was. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for how writing is taught in law school.
March 20th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Ron,
I find your writing engaging and understandable. Isn’t that the essence of communications? The law is meant to serve all, layman and lawyer alike. Writing so only those possessing JDs can decipher doesn’t meet the purpose of blogging, in my opinion.
March 21st, 2010 at 12:39 am
Thank you Randall. Actually that is my point. Perhaps for all my skilz I am not being clear: “Writing like a lawyer” is not a compliment. David Krell works with lawyers to help them write well even if they are doing legal writing — not like lawyers, but like good communicators writing in the law.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:05 am
[...] of blogging to brand, I liked the article Ron Coleman linked to here. It is a good summary written for non-lawyers about [...]