Angel Reese—the former LSU basketball superstar who now plays for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA—made headlines recently when she filed an application to register MEBOUNDS as a trademark for clothing and related items (Serial...more
Keen sports observers sometimes use trademark applications to try to identify the names and locations of potential expansion teams that may be coming to sports leagues. Recent trademark applications by the WNBA and National...more
On May 9, 2025, I sat in a crowded football stadium for the sold-out second night of the Grand National Tour concert featuring Kendrick Lamar and SZA (the stage name of Solána Rowe). As I listened to those iconic artists...more
6/4/2025
/ Artists ,
Authorship ,
Celebrities ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Name and Likeness ,
Popular ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
As my colleague Puya Partow-Navid recently wrote, popular or viral phrases in the sports world are often the subjects of trademark registrations. Women’s sports are no exception. 2024 was a banner year for women’s sports,...more
Sarah Silverman and her fellow author plaintiffs are fighting a judge’s recent order requiring them to disclose the prompts and outputs they used in preparation for filing their class action lawsuit against ChatGPT owner...more
7/19/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Authors ,
Class Action ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Disclosure ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Motion to Dismiss
The author of the lyrics for Canada’s national anthem, “O Canada,” probably didn’t have trademarks in mind when he wrote “we stand on guard for thee.” But a recent trademark infringement win for a Maryland-based U.S....more
In the wake of several Congressional hearings over the past year on AI and intellectual property, Representative Adam Schiff (D-California) has introduced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024 (H.R. 7913). ...more
5/3/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Office ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
The Copyright Act
A whole host of creators have filed suit in the U.S. alleging that AI companies improperly used the creators’ content to train AI programs. In most cases, the creators don’t know for sure whether the AI companies copied...more
Tennessee has joined the ranks of states regulating, in various ways, the use of artificial intelligence to manipulate an individual’s likeness. On March 21, 2024, Gov. Bill Lee said “thank you very much” to the Tennessee...more
4/3/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Fair Use ,
First Amendment ,
Goods or Services ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Name and Likeness ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Right of Publicity
Last week, we asked for your input on whether certain images generated by AI programs were substantially similar to the Plaintiffs’ original artworks, as alleged in Andersen v. Stability AI....more
By any measure, the world has changed vastly since we issued our first Commercial Litigation Outlook in 2020. We are now on our fourth installment of providing insights and flagging trends for what to expect in the coming...more
2/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Agreements ,
Patents ,
Trademarks
In a relatively scathing opinion finding the plaintiffs’ Complaint “defective in numerous respects,” a district court judge has thrown out most of the claims a group of artists has asserted against AI platforms that allegedly...more
2/14/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Authors ,
Authorship ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
The Copyright Act
‘Twas a day in December, when all through the blog, we were writing ‘bout trademarks, as if in a fog. When, what to our wondering eyes should appear, but holiday trademarks, so lovely and dear. The PTO said, as it reviewed...more
In the latest skirmish between Sarah Silverman and other authors against Chat GPT-maker OpenAI, OpenAI submitted a new decision from a California federal court in support of its attempt to dismiss the Silverman plaintiffs’...more
Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season, a beloved time of the year where family and friends gather over delicious meals to share and create memories and to express love and gratitude. Thanksgiving also commences the...more
In a relatively scathing opinion finding the plaintiffs’ Complaint “defective in numerous respects,” a district court judge has thrown out most of the claims a group of artists has asserted against AI platforms that allegedly...more
President Biden signed a comprehensive Executive Order addressing AI regulation across a wide range of industries and issues. Intellectual property is a key focus. The Order calls on the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent...more
11/2/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
Executive Orders ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Risk Mitigation ,
USPTO
On September 15th 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an amendment to the New York Labor Law. The amendment adds a new Section 203-f to the Labor Law, which addresses the assignment of inventions made by employees....more
11/1/2023
/ Copyright ,
Employee Inventors ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
New York ,
Ownership of Works ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trademarks
The latest briefing in Silverman v. OpenAI reads like that old REM song, “The End of the World as We Know It.” OpenAI has responded to the Plaintiffs’ claims that OpenAI’s popular platform ChatGPT has infringed their...more
As we’ve previously written, the rise of generative AI has led to a spate of copyright suits across the country. One major target of these suits has been OpenAI. Actor/comedian Sarah Silverman and author Paul Tremblay are...more
10/2/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
DMCA ,
Fair Use ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Ownership of Works ,
Vicarious Liability
In what appears to be the first court opinion to weigh in on the copyrightability of AI-generated art, the District of D.C. has blessed the Copyright Office’s position to date: only works created by humans deserve protection...more
Several U.S. courts are addressing lawsuits brought by artists alleging that AI-generated art infringes on copyrights held by the artists for their artwork. In one of those cases, a California federal judge recently indicated...more
There is a little-known provision of the Lanham Act (the US Trademark Act) that packs a potentially big punch. 15 USC § 1051(e) provides that if a non-U.S. entity registers for a trademark in the United States without...more