IP & Technology Law Trends
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Government Concedes that Recent Federal Circuit Ruling on Registration of "Disparaging" Trademarks Applies to "Scandalous and Immoral" Marks As Well
Here's an update to my comment on In re Tam published a couple of weeks ago.
In a letter to a clerk for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the pending Trademark Office appellate case In re Brunetti (CAFC No. 2015-1109), the U.S. Departme...
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Naughty or Nice, "Offensive" Trademarks Are Entitled to Registration: In re Tam
If you felt a rumble during the early hours of Tuesday, December 22, that was the earthquake touched off by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's holding that a long-debated and high profile portion of the nation's trademark law is unconstit...
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Confusion over Initial Interest Confusion: Multi Time Machine v. Amazon.com
Multi Time Machine (“MTM”) sued Amazon.com for trademark infringement, claiming that when potential customers searched for MTM products on Amazon.com’s website, search results appeared for other products as Amazon.com does not sell MTM products. MTM...
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Ninth Circuit to Copyright Owners: Consider Fair Use Before Submitting DMCA Notices
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lenz v. Universal Music answered a question that it seems nobody has asked until now: Is it necessary to consider fair use before submitting a takedown notice under the Digital Mill...
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Third Circuit Affirms FTC Enforcement Authority Over Cybersecurity Practices
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) may pursue a lawsuit against Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, a hotel and time-share operator, for “unfair and deceptive” cybersecurity practi...
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Scorched! What Happens to a Brand When a Spokesperson Does the Unthinkable? (Part I)
Jared Fogle and Subway. The two names went together—Jared became, if not famous, at least well known by his many years as the face (and body) of Subway sandwich shops. And Subway's famous SUBWAY brand was integrally tied to Jared. Until it all came c...
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