Sep 17, 2017
What Are Trademark Classes?
One of the more bewildering aspects of a trademark application is describing the goods and services the mark will identify. In this post we look at how the USPTO classifies...
Intellectual Property
Aug 21, 2017
Atari Sues Kit Kat for IP Infringement
Intellectual property is in the news again this week. Atari, an iconic video game company, sued Nestle, alleging that Nestle committed IP infringement on its classic “Breakout” video game by...
Jul 25, 2017
Can You Trademark a Surname?
Many people believe that they have the right to use their last name (i.e. surname) as part of their business name. This makes sense, as many people share the same...
Jul 6, 2017
Supreme Court Says USPTO May Not Reject Disparaging Trademarks
It’s always exciting (at least for trademark lawyers) whenever the Supreme Court issues an opinion about trademark law. The court recently issued its opinion in Matal v. Tam, an appeal...
Jun 7, 2017
Has “Google” become a generic term?
If you are like most of our readers, you got to this page after you googled something trademark-related. And if you are like most people, you probably didn’t think twice...
Apr 12, 2017
VARA: How Artists Can Protect Their Rights
As business attorneys, we frequently deal with copyright questions related to graphic arts and other commercial artwork. Usually this means putting agreements in place to make sure everyone owns the...
Apr 5, 2017
Avoiding Trademark Ownership Pitfalls
We help a lot of small businesses protect their trademarks and one issue that comes up frequently is identifying the correct owner. This is the very first entry you must...
Mar 16, 2017
Likelihood of Confusion — Don’t Be Confused by Trademark Law
One of the things I like about helping trademark clients is that I get to spend a lot of time educating them on how the law works. This is one...
Feb 14, 2017
Proper Copyright Licensing is Important
Driving to work the other day, I happened to find myself driving behind the truck you see above. Apparently owned (or contracted) by an exterminating company called Manzano Pest Management...
Feb 1, 2017
Alternative Facts
We’ve written before about the importance of acting quickly when it comes to registering your trademark. Even if you are entitled to registration, waiting to file can add significant delay...
Jan 26, 2017
Boilerplate Matters in Contracts
I’ve been running into a lot of contracts disputes lately where a party’s rights were potentially affected by missing boilerplate provisions. Boilerplate generally refers to language that is reused from one...
Jan 11, 2017
The Art (and Work) of Branding
Back in July 2016, I published an article entitled Clever Business Names, after having a strong reaction to a business named “Curl Up & Dye”. Like that previous article, my...