When you walk through a cosmetics store, the sheer number of brands and variations on packaging can be overwhelming. Translate that into the volume of intellectual property that brand owners must protect in the marketplace and there are certainly going to be...
Year: 2019
Product counterfeiting a big concern in the gift-giving season
The massive increase in retail sales - both from brick-and-mortar stores and from internet sources - that accompanies the holiday season can create the perfect storm within which counterfeiters can try to launch their masquerading products, hoping to go unnoticed in...
NCAA to loosen ban on college athletes’ use of own personas
We recently told readers about a California bill under consideration in the state legislature called the Fair Pay to Play Act. Since then, the legislation has become law and will take effect in 2023. California's move is groundbreaking in the world of collegiate...
Can a landlord be liable for trademark infringement by a tenant?
When a third party directs or contributes to trademark-infringing activity of another party, the direct infringer’s liability is clear, but the third party may also be liable under the concept of contributory infringement. The U.S. Supreme Court said in 1982...
Will USPTO grant a new trademark that includes quotation marks?
Off-White is a popular Italian company affiliated with designer Virgil Abloh, creator of the line MARKERAD in collaboration with IKEA. MARKERAD items became available for sale at IKEA on Nov. 1. Some of the branded products at IKEA contain Abloh's signature use of...
When must a trademark infringer disgorge its profits?
The U.S. Supreme Court released its January 2020 oral argument calendar and it schedules argument in an important trademark infringement case. On Jan. 14, the fourth case heard in the new year will be Romag Fasteners v. Fossil Inc., requiring the justices to decide...
Aggressive trademark enforcement is a complex business decision
The ongoing story of a Utah-based online retailer and its efforts to preserve its trademark interests in the word “backcountry” provides a fascinating look into the careful consideration a business must conduct of potential outcomes of such a campaign....
ASCAP sues 19 bars and restaurants for copyright infringement
On Oct. 29, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP, announced it had filed 19 lawsuits for copyright infringement lawsuits. According to its press release, the suits target bars and restaurants with music venues that allegedly failed...
Epic Games and Fortnite are in the intellectual property news again
On Oct. 25, Epic Games sued a former employer for misappropriating a trade secret and breaching a nondisclosure agreement when he allegedly publicized information about a new season of the game before its Oct. 15 release, according to WRAL TechWire.The...
Recipe theft? Beer giant accuses another of stealing trade secrets
In March, MillerCoors sued Anheuser-Busch after AB’s prominent Bud Lite Super Bowl ad and billboard campaign highlighting that MC uses corn syrup in the brewing process for Miller Lite and Coors Light. MC accused AB of misleading the public into thinking...