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Cohen Law > Blog (Page 19)
22 May
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Obtaining Your Domain Name Back From Cybersquatters Through UDRP

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in Domain, Litigation

A common scenario for established or new companies occurs when its primary domain name has been seized by a cybersquattor. For example, imagine your company name and trademark is “Sizaroma.” You were able to register www.sizaroma.com but later www.sizaroma.net, www.sizaromas.com, and www.sizaaromas.com were registered by someone else, probably a guy in China who in bad faith, has no intention of ever using domains. Or worse, he later puts up a competing website in bad faith with similar goods and services feeding off the goodwill that you have worked so hard to create. That my friends is a cybersquatter. So what...

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19 May
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No Trademark for Pussy

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in Trademark

Certain things can be trademarked while other things cannot. Some of the “not” things are certain words or designs that are deemed to be immoral or scandalous under Section (2) of the Lanham Act. For example, remember when Damon Wayans tried to trademark “Nigga” for clothing? That got shut down by the examiner at the USPTO under Section (2). In a recent 27-page decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (“TTAB” or “Board”) refused registration of the mark PUSSY NATURAL ENERGY in connection with energy drinks on the basis of it being scandalous. Applicant’s attorney of course argued the predictable, that the...

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18 May
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AMERICAN APPAREL DUKES IT OUT WITH LAWYER KEITH FINK

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in Trademark

American Apparel has had its share of lawsuits. More recently with Woody Allen after American Apparel posted billboards of Allen without his permission. Now, American Apparel is on the offense against an opposing attorney in an employment litigation. Keith Fink has a reputation as an aggressive employment attorney, typically suing celebrities and others in the entertainment industry. One of Fink’s notable cases is against blogger queen Perez Hilton over the PerezRevenge domain name trademark litigation. Fink represents a former employee of America Apparel that is suing the company’s CEO Dov Charney for sexual harassment. As a preemptive attack, American Apparel has taken...

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14 May
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Legalzoom Gets Sued

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in Litigation

Legalzoom, the legal self-filing service is facing a hefty lawsuit from a Los Angeles attorney Kent Seton, whose speciality is in forming non-profit corporations. Seton sued Legalzoom on February 5, 2009 in Los Angeles Superior Court for breach of contract and misappropriation. The complaint alleges that Seton and Legalzoom entered into a joint venture in which customers of legalzoom would fill out forms on the Legalzoom website, and those forms would be sent to Seton to finalize the formation of a nonprofit entity. The complaint further alleges that Legalzoom stopped sending Seton the forms and stopped sharing any profits earned, yet...

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13 May
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More Fake Celebrity Twitter Profiles

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in Trademark

Fake celebrity Twitter profiles are getting out of control, see my previous post regarding the topic. Now Kanye West is the latest celebrity to be subject to a fake Twitter profile. Some cases regarding the use of a celebrity’s likeness involved the claim of Right of Publicity. California Civil Code Section 3344 prohibits “Any person who knowingly uses another’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent…” Putting the law aside,...

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12 May
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Google Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Trademark Infringement Over Adwords

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in Litigation, Trademark

On May 11, 2009, a Texas trademark litigation attorney initiated a class action lawsuit against Google, Youtube, AOL, and Turner Broadcasting System for trademark infringement. The Class Representative is a small software company in Marshall, Texas, called Firepond. The jist of Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges that Defendants are infringing Plaintiff’s trademarks by selling Plaintiff’s trademark words in Adwords. For example, “Firepond” is one of the terms that were bid upon by Plaintiff’s competitors. When an individual searches for the term “Firepond” in a Google search, an Adword advertisement of one of Plaintiff’s competitor’s appears at the top of the search. This...

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08 May
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How Can I Protect My Idea?

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in Patent, Trademark

“How can I protect my idea?” This is the most common question I get from new clients. Whether it’s a new online software, an interesting baby product, some type of new apparel with unusual patterns, or a new method of business for example, the question is always the same. How do I protect it? So what is the answer? You can’t! Well, maybe you can…It depends…Don’t you hate this? The truth is you cannot protect vague, broad, conceptual ideas such as, “I want to protect the concept of having a guitar placed within a piece of furniture.” That is an example...

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