Footlong trademark thing
What’s all this I hear about a trademark registration by Subway for FOOTLONG with respect to sandwiches? This is one of those other stories I […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
Continue reading » Category: Stealing the Language
Trademark Insanity Awareness. Day.
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia! It’s a serious condition, but… what about it? Techdirt explains: BoingBoing has the latest story of trademark insanity, where a “charity” focused […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Spam Can’t Act
The U.K. Register reports that what would appear to be a very late in the game attempt by the original spammers — Hormel, makers of […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Own (Up to) Your (Alleged) Infringement
The problem—as this blogger sees it—with most mass-media reports of court decisions is that they tell you the outcome, but they rarely if ever tell […]
Written by: 
Matthew David Brozik
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Unlovely SPAM
Hormel won’t give up. And neither will Spam Arrrest, LLC (which makes a great product I used for years). A press release from Spam Arrest […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Best of 2006: “They’re stealing the language!”
First published March 20, 2006. Writes Boing-Boing: “Super-hero” isn’t Marvel’s property. They didn’t invent the term. They aren’t the only users of the term. It’s […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Best of 2005: New York’s MTA Has an IP Obsession
The New York Sun reports that New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority has filed to register the phrase “If You See Something, Say Something” — its […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Best of 2005: Q the Lawyers
Originally posted on March 27, 2005. A report in the online Financial Express says that Nissan is suing Audi over “Q.” To wit: “We are […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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got what, now?
If you’re reading this, then the settlement check has cleared. But you’ll never believe who paid whom for what! My friend—whom I will call Bryan […]
Written by: Matthew David Brozik
Continue reading » 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 […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
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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 […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
Continue reading » Shot to Dell
Dell’s CLOUD COMPUTING trademark application has gone up in a vapory mass of smoke: Dell cannot register “cloud computing” as a trademark because the term […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Best of 2011: Golden Nugget: Request for proposal
Originally posted July 26, 2011. I’m requesting that the Golden Nugget casino accept a proposal from me — I want to handle their cost-effectiveness-be-damned domain […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Gadget goes gonzo
Updated (see below) in September, 2011: Firefly Digital explains the vision behind their, um, trademarks — including the one they claim a little outfit called […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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