Lawyer Ron Coleman on brands, the Internet & free speech
Digital Rights Management
Doc Searls: “Somebody suggested to me that VRM is “the opposite of DRM” Digital Rights Management, rather than or in addition to the reciprocal of CRM Customer Relationship Management.” Nice point. UPDATE: DRM on death’s…
Rights of Publicity and Personality
If the federal copyright complaint that you file on behalf of your client includes an assertion that “[the d]efendants… knew or should have known that they were violating [the p]laintiff’s rights,” then you probably want…
TTAB Practice
To register a trademark you need to provide the Patent and Trademark Office with something called a “specimen.” The definition of “specimen” under the PTO’s rules, besides providing one reason that it’s better to be…
Fashion Law
Ben Manevitz updates us on the Diane van Furstenburg “you stole my smock” litigation. Ben’s take: “As a litigator, I’m going to give everyone involved in any litigation the secret! the best piece of advice…
Originally published January 8, 2008. WSJ.com’s Law Blog reports about the seven-figure effect in the Central District of California for a one-minute-late filing: A judgment in favor of [Morrison & Foster’s] client was entered on…
Counterfeiting & Piracy
Costco owes Tiffany more than $19 million for selling counterfeit rings https://t.co/bPj2IC2a34 pic.twitter.com/ZUjavk8TRH — Business – DM (@BusinessMarkhor) August 15, 2017 I wrote last fall that it didn’t look like it could get much worse for…
LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®
My friends Oliver Herzfeld and Richard Bergovoy have just published “Trade mark licensing made easy” in the current issue of Managing Intellectual Property. (Don’t email me about the “typo.” The title is spelled funny because…
Trade dress
We all understood by now that under Wal-Mart, trade dress that is deemed to be “product packaging” — unlike “product configuration” — “may be inherently distinctive and therefore, registrable, without proof of acquired distinctiveness.” Now…
Literature
Ruling Imagination: (): I may be a minority, but I find it odd to think a literary character, rather than the work he appears in, can be copyrighted. Nonetheless, the judge hearing J.D. Salinger’s lawsuit seeking…
Copyright Law
Not that the plaintiffs in the Designer Skin case didn’t get an injunction: They did (here it is); a narrow one utilizing proposed language by defendants explicitly permitting S&L to use its own photographs of…
Jewish tradition teaches that on Tisha B’Av (the Ninth day of the month of Av) — which begins tonight — five national calamities occurred: Originally posted 2013-07-15 20:00:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Costumes and Clothing
I am fascinated with IP disputes over costumes, and have written about a few of them. I have also linked to this piece by Bill Patry, which would seem to be the definitive treatment. It…
Culture Clash
Decadent western culture is rat obsessed, it’s true. But sometimes the rodent has to take one for the team. Now, in true Islamist fashion, but with an IP twist: How to avoid (mostly theoretical) trademark…
Brand Management and Branding
StationStops reports that the MTA has backed off at least part of its obnoxious “IP enforcement program” and undone some of the damage the agency caused between the company and Apple: Finally, 2 weeks after…