Apostrophe now
Via Courthouse News, a report of a trademark lawsuit that I’d think were merely “apostrophal” if not for the fact that that august publication says it’s... Read more
Category: Trademarks and trademark law
Slant on The Slants
Everybody can have an IP blog. But hardly anybody, it seems, is prepared to do the work required to blog. I refer now to the... Read more
Osama Kin Back in Brand Equity Play?
Joe Gandelman reports about a trademark story relating to the protection of the Bin Laden family name in Europe. No, not that Bin Laden —... Read more
Chasing confusion
This explains why it’s so hard for the rest of us to get legal work from Chase. Read more
Likelihood of — well, no, actually. Not.
At least in some parts of the country, LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION is something judges actually sometimes don’t find. Out there, for example. No, the other... Read more
Sealed with a fist
I kvetch a lot about the mania for dubious “IP enforcement” by government agencies such as New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, which really should both... Read more
Judge Gets the Points
Rely on a disclaimer to avoid likelihood of confusion? Fat chance. Take the Second Circuit’s decision in Weight Watchers International Inc. v. Luigino’s Inc., fresh... Read more
Louis Vuitton on the receiving end
Two retailers have sued Louis Vuitton seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement in response to a cease and desist letter sent by the feisty French... Read more
The not so bright line
The preamble of the Lanham Act Section 2 is followed by six lower-case–lettered sections, the fifth of which contains four separately numbered “grounds” on which it... Read more
I’m a CYBERLAWYER, too!
Slashdot: BigTimOBrien writes to mention the EFF is reporting that self-proclaimed cyberlawyer, Eric Menhart, has decided to trademark use of the term “cyberlaw” and is... Read more
Gibson continues its IP-based business plan
“You’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to law!” Well, that’s what the song always sounded like to me. When you’re a hammer… (and... Read more
Clever slogan, yes. Trademark, no.
Despite the impression you might get around here, being a big company doesn’t mean you have to always be wrong — or even always be... Read more
Give it a rest!
John Welch reports on a case involving the would-be registration for IRESTMYCASE.COM, an attorney’s website, wherein the TTAB reminds us that a URL (website address)... Read more
Don’t bother, they’re here
President Obama is suffering from the right-of-publicity blues again. And now maybe we understand why he wants an intellectual property anti-counterfeiting lawyer on the Supreme... Read more