Brand Bully Backlash
NO MORE BRAND BULLYING!! On March 17, 2010 the Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010 became effective. The Act requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Intellectual Property…
Publicity & Privacy
Yesterday, I wrote about the Section 2(c) refusal to register three marks that referenced President Barack Obama without his consent. Today I will explore the area of law that protects…
No Barack Marks
Who knew Presidential jammies could be such a hit? Not only are these no longer available (probably since '08), but . . . on Friday, December 10, 2010, the Trademark…
Prevent Deceptive Ads with help from the BBB
As we await the release of the FTC Green Guides, advertisers also should be aware of the BBB'S National Advertising Division ("NAD") as a potential means for dispute resolution for…
Geeking over packaging
Janelle Orsi, a super cool attorney friend of mine who's a pioneer in Sharing Law, brought a bag of delicious chocolate tortilla chips (who knew there was such a thing?)…
Cheeseburger II
Yesterday I wrote about the strengths of trademarks, using CHEESEBURGER as an example. Today I thought it would be fun to see just how many CHEESEBURGER marks there are on…
Cheeseburger
After reading my post on Lamebook v. Facebook, Malika asked "What about something like Cheeseburger?" I like Cheeseburgers. As far as using CHEESEBURGER as a trademark, that depends on the…
My Favorite Brand
During the SF Music Tech opening reception this evening, my new friend Tom asked me what my favorite brand is. Oddly, I told him that I didn't know. When the conversation floated through…
Silly Suit: East of Sunset
According to the Courthouse New Service, a company named Blixa films filed a trademark infringement suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on November 30, 2010 seeking to prevent Thrillhouse Productions…
Happy Wednesday
I've always liked Wednesdays. In college (at University of Missouri-Columbia), I used to DJ at the Blue Note on Wednesday nights. It wasn't until after law school that I learned…