For anyone in the food and beverage industry or involved in business marketing, Michael Cohen will be moderating a seminar on July 14, 2014 at 1PM entitled LANHAM ACT: ISSUES AFTER LEXMARK AND POM WONDERFUL. http://www.lawseminars.com/detail.php?SeminarCode=14LATB ...
Continue readingAs a follow up to yesterday’s blogpost regarding the landmark decision by the TTAB to cancel the Redskins’ trademarks, I did an interview on KFI 640 AM with Bryan Suits. Enjoy! http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=1391&c=14803&f=2955333 ...
Continue readingToday, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), cancelled six registered trademarks, that include the term “Redskins” for the Washington Redskins, owned by the NFL. The plaintiffs in the matter were able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the term Redskins is “disparaging” to a substantial composite of the Native American population. Under Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, words that “may disparage” individuals or groups or “bring them into contempt or disrepute” are not permitted as trademarks. The ruling pertains to six different trademarks associated with the team, each containing the word “Redskin.” When it comes to...
Continue readingThe clothing and apparel company, Blue Sphere Inc. doing business as Lucky 13, and Robert A. Kloetzly filed a complaint against Taylor Swift and her business entities. In the complaint, BLUE SPHERE, INC. et al. v. SWIFT, et al. CASE NO.: 8:14-cv-00782, Swift is accused of allegedly infringing on Blue Sphere’s federally protected trademarks by selling merchandise using the phrase “Lucky 13” without Blue Sphere Inc.’s authorization. The origin of the action is simple. “Lucky 13” is a clothing and apparel company that has federally protected trademarks using the phrase “Lucky 13” on clothing and their merchandise. However, Swift happens...
Continue readingThis week, the European Union’s highest court ruled that “a search engine like Google should allow online users to be ‘forgotten’ after a certain time by erasing links to web pages unless there are ‘particular reasons’ not to.” This ruling, which affects EU’s 500 million citizens, pushes the brakes on the web’s free flow of information that many assumed would remain online permanently. The court said, “search engines were not simply dumb pipes, but played an active role as data controllers,” and must be held accountable for the links they provide. Search engines could be compelled to remove links to...
Continue readingThe Supreme Court last week struck a blow to patent owners who made a living off threatening others with frivolous litigation by loosening the standard for the prevailing party to collect legal fees. Patent owners that do not sell products or services, but earn or try to earn the majority of their income by enforcing their patents through frivolous litigation are commonly known as “Non-practicing entities” (NPEs) or “Patent Trolls.” For years, some NPEs would buy patents for the sole purpose of using their new ownership rights against corporations by demanding licensing fees, or litigation. The cost of paying a...
Continue readingBack in 2012, Dwayne Walker filed a lawsuit against Jay-Z for breach of contract and copyright infringement for failure to pay royalties, claiming that he designed the iconic logo for Roc-A-Fella records, Jay-Z’s record company and is owed $7,000,000. The lawsuit, Dwayne D. Walker, Jr. v. Shawn Carter (“Jay-Z”) et al, case no. 12-cv-05384(ALC)(RLE), was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York in 2012. The Plaintiff’s alleges that that “Jay Z, Dame Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, all agreed to pay Walker $3,500 for the design of the Roc-A-Fella logo. However, Dwayne Walker stipulated in...
Continue readingThis week, The U.S. Supreme Court began the oral argument stage for ABC Inc. v. Aereo, No. 13-461, a case with colossal ramifications on copyright law. ABC is joined by CBS, Disney, Fox, Comcast’s NBC Universal, and the federal government. The Aereo Company, based in Long Island, NY is an internet alternative to watching television. Aereo charges its subscribers a monthly fee to watch television stations over the internet, without the company having a license to do so, or paying retransmission fees to local affiliates. The case turns on a part of the copyright law that requires copyright owners’ permission for...
Continue readingThe 2nd trial between Apple and Samsung is 5 days in, Apple is seeking $2.2 billion in damages from Samsung for alleged infringements of 5 of Apple’s patents. Apple filed Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd et al in the California Northern District Court on February 20, 2012, and to make things interesting Samsung filed a counterclaim, alleging that two patents have been infringed on by Apple. Samsung is seeking $6 million, a fraction in comparison. The two tech heavyweights have been at each other's throats for years, and by July 2012 had over 50 lawsuits against each other...
Continue readingAt the end of March, The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board granted Disney a 90-day extension to file an opposition against a pending trademark sought by Ronica Holdings, Limited, on behalf of the popular EDM artist, Joel Zimmerman, known as “Deadmou5” (pronounced “Dead Mouse”). The pending trademark, shown below (Serial No. 85972976) features a smiling black and white mouse head with big ears, similar to the Mickey Mouse silhouette, also shown below. It is likely that Disney and Zimmerman’s representatives are trying to hash this out during the 90 day period. In one scenario, Disney may seek to block the trademark outright...
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