Rated R for infRingement
John Welch reports that the TTAB has ruled that the trademark “RATED R SPORTSWEAR” is confusingly similar to the famous “RATED R” movie certification mark.... Read more
Category: Fair Use
“We cannot allow our brand to be abused”
Originally posted on November 13, 2008. What “brand” is that? The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brand. The greed of the King “branders” was... Read more
Zombie on zombie action
The Escapist (via Punning Pundit): In a battle that refuses to die, publisher Capcom filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against the Dawn of the Dead film... Read more
Theologically misdescriptive
Talk about “scandalous and offensive” marks!: [P]hrases containing some form of “God” have been trademarked [sic] more than 3,400 times in the United States: “God... Read more
Best of 2008: The Long and Rocky Road
This was first posted on May 7, 2008. Irvin Robbins, the co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, died yesterday. Here’s how much time has... Read more
Update on Lady Voldemort
We first wrote about her lawsuit against a fansite operator here. Sam Bayard has the latest. Originally posted 2011-09-09 10:52:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more
Companies versus their fans
Walter Olson: The famous maker of candies and candy-dispensers is suing the owners of the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Northern California, claiming that... Read more
Best of 2008: The Long and Rocky Road
This was first posted on May 7, 2008. Irvin Robbins, the co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, died yesterday. Here’s how much time has... Read more
Jews for Jesus* v. free speech: update
Maybe if Steve Brodsky or the Whistleblower published pornography or scandalous charactures of Dick Cheney or were uploading music files the self-appointed guardians of free speech would have something to say about what's going on here. Read more
In real life, Voldemort sometimes wins
The decision has come down in the J.K. Rowling lawsuit against the authors of the Harry Potter Lexicon, which we reported on most recently here.... Read more
Unfair use
More pain, very little gain — besides for lawyers’ college funds — in the roiling world of trademark fair use. Originally posted 2012-09-10 06:00:30. Republished... Read more
License revoked
Ever wonder about this new thing — where someone sells you some stuff, typically something that has some sort of copyright on it, only when... Read more
More on virtual infringement
I’ve already written about what they’re writing about it, and now, so has Victoria Pynchon. Originally posted 2013-01-13 22:41:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more
One publisher’s take on the Google Books decision
Dear Judge Chin, I have just read your decision to grant Google summary judgment in this case and I must express my disappointment. You have... Read more