IP & Technology Law Trends
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Alicia Bell Published in Modern Restaurant Management: Protecting Your Restaurant’s Intellectual Property Is More Important Than You Think
As the restaurant industry grows, and as customers pay more attention to local and artisan foods and celebrity chefs, there’s an increased interest in protecting recipes, signature dishes, and restaurant brands as intellectual property. In an article...
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Federal Circuit Strikes Down the Lanham Act's Ban on Scandalous and Immoral Marks in the Wake of Tam
In the wake of Matal v. Tam, where the Supremes unanimously held that the "disparagement clause" in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of...
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Copyright Office Rule Changes—Maintaining DMCA Safe Harbor Immunity Requires New Registration
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides limited safe-harbor immunity from copyright infringement claims to certain types of websites and other online service providers. Earlier this year, we blogged regarding the need for such providers...
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We Built This City on...False Advertising?
Fifty years ago, it was the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco, with Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 album “Surrealistic Pillow” providing the soundtrack. My how times have changed!
Earlier this week, the United States District Court for the Northern Distri...
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USPTO Switches Gears on Registration of Disparaging Marks, but Not on Scandalous Marks
On June 26, 2017, a week after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the "disparagement clause" in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment in Matal v. Tam, the U.S. Patent and...
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Portland Band The Slants Singing a Happy Tune After the Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That the Disparagement Clause Violates the First Amendment
Background
Yesterday, six months after hearing oral argument (and nearly six years after Simon Tam filed his trademark application for "THE SLANTS"), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's en b...
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