26 January

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Michael N. Cohen Super Lawyer

Posted by Michael

Cohen IP Law Group, P.C. is once again pleased to announce the nomination of Michael N. Cohen for inclusion in the 2013 Southern California Rising Stars Super Lawyers® publication. Super Lawyers® is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, confirmation that nominees are properly licensed, in good standing with the state licensing agency, and, when possible, that they have no history of disciplinary action that would warrant removal from the list. In addition to a general survey, an attorney-led research...

18 December

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LAIPLA Blogger

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

Cohen IP Law Group PC, is proud to announce that we are one of the select new bloggers for the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association (LAIPLA). The blog can be viewed here: http://www.laipla.net/category/trademark-lawyers-mind/ ...

14 December

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Ludacris’ Trademark Battle for Disturbing Tha Peace

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

Early this month, Demitri Brown and Donna Evans-Brown (the “Browns”) filed a federal trademark infringement suit against Christopher Bridges p/k/a Ludacris, claiming that Luda’s “Disturbing Tha Peace” trademark is confusingly similar to their mark “Disturb the Peace.” However, “Disturb the Peace” has been canceled since August 31, 2004. This means that the Browns no longer have a valid US Federal Trademark Registration, which ultimately means that they may likely only claim common law trademark rights and not Federal trademark rights. On the other hand, Ludacris has several trademark registrations that incorporate “Disturbing Tha Peace” (Reg. Nos. 3159855, 2945795, 2923163, 2925238, 3220495,...

28 November

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Apple Lightning Harley Davidson Trademark Deal

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

The LIGHTNING trademark, OHIM Reg. Nos. 011399821 and 011399862, were first issued to Harley Davidson in 2005. Recently, “Lightning” has also become the preferred moniker for Apple’s smaller, 8-pin dock connector. On or around November 22, 2012, Harley Davidson allegedly “partially transferred” trademark rights to Apple with respect to the LIGHTNING mark. That’s great. But, what does this really mean? Well, according to the OHIM Trade Mark search database, Harley Davidson still owns trademark rights over the international classes 25, 26 and 18, while Apple now owns the rights over international classes 9 and 28. Cool. So what does this mean?...

06 November

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Kardashian Khroma Chroma Trademark Infringement

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

The Kardashians already had to deal with being accused of copyright infringement with their purse line, Kardashian Kollection. Now, just last week, Chroma Makeup Studios publicly denounced the Kardashians’ upcoming makeup line “Khroma Beauty by Kourtney, Kim & Khloe.” The Chroma Makeup Studios website’s home page is currently a long letter to its loyal fans declaring that it is in no way, shape, or form associated with the Kardashians. Further, it states a little blurb about the Federal trademark law and how the founders, Lisa Casino and Michael Rey III are “taking all appropriate steps to defend its reputation and...

19 September

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Beverly Hills Bar Association Event: Dressing Up IP: Copyright, Trademark, and Licensing Issues in the Fashion Industry

Posted by Michael

in Copyright, Trademark

Great event at the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the program is titled: “Dressing Up IP: Copyright, Trademark, and Licensing Issues in the Fashion Industry.” The program will be on October 11, 2012 and may be attended in person, streamed live online, or viewed via the internet at a later date. Additionally, the program offers MCLE credit: “MCLE CREDIT: This activity has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.5 HOURS and the Beverly Hills Bar Association certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved prescribed by the rules...

13 August

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Letter of Protest to Oppose Trademark Application

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

We love filing letters of protest. The Cohen IP Law Group frequently uses this lesser-known trademark procedure prior to the publication period to oppose a pending trademark application that may go to issuance without having to file an actual opposition proceeding. So what is a Letter of Protest? Essentially it allows a third party to bring forth evidence ex parte that was not known to the examining attorney assigned to a particular trademark application, to let him become aware that the pending application he is reviewing should not be issued. The Letter of Protest must be filed before Publication, although...

26 July

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Facebook’s Patent Gets Approved

Posted by Michael

in Patent

One of the features that attract people to Facebook is the ability to “block” certain individuals like bosses, coworkers, and family from being able to view possibly incriminating or humiliating photos and status updates. These privacy settings are unique to Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg filed a patent application back in 2006 for the function– titled as “”Dynamically generating a privacy summary.” The application said: “As social networking has grown more popular, users have realized a need for a certain amount of privacy…not every particular user wants all the other users to be able to access the information about the...

24 July

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We Buy Ugly Houses Trademark Dispute

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

“We Buy Ugly Houses” is the trademark that HomeVestors of America, Inc. registered back in 2001. The company specializes in training franchisees to buy homes, “flip,” and resell the homes. HomeVestors has in subsequent years also registered variations on “We Buy Ugly Houses” such as “We Buy Ugly Houses And Make Them Nice Again” and a Spanish translation “Compramos Casas Feas.” Since popularizing its slogan, HomeVestors has stayed active in enforcing protection of its federally registered trademark. This includes preventing other real-estate companies from using “We Buy Ugly Houses” or something of that sort on their websites and as a part...

19 July

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New Boyz Trademark Infringement Lawsuit

Posted by Michael

in Trademark

The American rap group, New Boyz, has experienced large success in a short period of time. The New Boyz music capitalizes on catchy beats and lyrics like: “You’re a jerk! Jerk Jerk Jerk!” and “Tell all the homies she got bunz, bunz, bunz.” Surprisingly, the group has yet to trademark its name “New Boyz.” In the polar opposite genre of music–Christian music, an Australian band called Newsboys has been around since 1985 and remains popular with Christian music listeners. The band registered the trademark “Newsboys” in 1994. The band recently filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the New Boyz for allegedly infringing...