(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Basics – Protecting Names, Logos, and Brands in Entertainment
The Briefing: Trademark Basics - Protecting Names, Logos, and Brands in Entertainment
Want to use a positioning cheat code? Try "early bird" thought leadership.
Daily Compliance News: July 29, 2025 the Is CEO Conduct Ever Personal Edition
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Cease and Desist Letters: Protecting Your Intellectual Property the Right Way
PODCAST: PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Cease and Desist Letters: Protecting Your Intellectual Property the Right Way
You should be talking about philosophies—not just tactics—in your thought leadership
Mickey Mouse: un ratón con abogado
The Briefing: The Ninth Circuit Puts the Brakes on Eleanor’s Copyright Claim
(Podcast) The Briefing: Who Owns Jack Nicklaus? Lessons for The Creator Economy From a Brand Battle
The Briefing: Who Owns Jack Nicklaus? Lessons for The Creator Economy From a Brand Battle
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
(Podcast) The Briefing: When a TikTok Costs You $150,000 - Copyright Pitfalls in Influencer Marketing
The Briefing: When a TikTok Costs You $150,000 - Copyright Pitfalls in Influencer Marketing
(Podcast) The Briefing: Influencer Fail – ALO Yoga & Influencers Named in $150M Class Action Lawsuit for FTC Violations
The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 1) — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle (Podcast)
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle
Registering a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides significant legal benefits, including nationwide protection and the presumption of ownership. Federal registration is a smart investment for...more
Taking your retail brand to the next level and attracting an equity investment based on the value of your brand requires not only business acumen but strategies for brand protection. Protecting your trademarks by way of...more
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design—or a combination of these—that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods or services of one party from those of others. Essentially, a trademark is your brand’s identity...more
What’s in a name? For Philadelphians (and young men of a particular era) “Wing Bowl” conjures up zany images from the 1993-2018 annual early morning chicken wing eating competition including scantily clad women, radio...more
You have a brand—a trademark—for your business. Perhaps it is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods or services. At its heart, trademark law is...more
In the debut episode of The Upper Brand podcast, Mayer Brown attorneys Richard Assmus, Kristine Young, and Christa Cole delve into the evolving world of non-traditional trademarks—covering everything from colors and scents to...more
Recent legislative changes in California have opened up exciting opportunities for cannabis lounges and retailers. With a new law allowing on-premise consumption areas, the sale of food and drinks, and the hosting of live...more
Popular brands face attacks from all sides, from competitors trying to chip away at market share, to bad actors seeking to profit from counterfeit or knockoff products. However, one lesser-known threat arises when your...more
I distinctly remember purchasing the Superman/Spiderman team-up when it came out in 1981. It was an oversized comic book, with heavier than usual pages and a vibrant color scheme, and that made it perfect for laying it out on...more
In trademark law, the concept of distinctiveness is central to protecting your brand and ensuring it stands out in the marketplace. Understanding the levels of trademark distinctiveness can help startup founders make informed...more
As you dive into the world of trademarks to protect your brand, one element you will encounter during the registration process with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the “specimen of use.” Understanding this...more
A “trademark” is any word, phrase, logo or design that identifies the source of goods or services. Trademarks are used to distinguish one’s products and services from those of another. The strength of a trademark depends on...more
One of the signs of a healthy trademark is a certain level of distinctiveness. Distinctiveness is related to consumers’ love and recognition of a mark as an indicator of a product’s source, such that consumers trust the mark...more
Thank you for reading the July 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we continue our three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights with a discussion of genericide. We...more
Unless you live under a rock, you have likely heard of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbox, and the praises being sung regarding its unlimited functions. Ask it anything, they say. Have it summarize...more
While Shakespeare may have wondered “what is in a name?”, the executives at Peloton believe that the trademark SPIN is of great importance. Last month (February, 2021), Peloton filed petitions to cancel the trademarks SPIN...more
As a trademark attorney, devoted Baltimore Ravens fan, and furtive TMZ reader, I couldn’t help but notice this story authored recently, describing how Mark Ingram’s aspirations of registering BIG TRUSS in the US Trademark...more
The mark must be used “in Commerce” and in good faith in the ordinary course of trade. While the USPTO will generally not conduct an inquiry, the applicant must claim use that qualifies as “Use in U.S. Commerce”. ...more
On June 17, 2019, Canada’s Trademarks Act changed, resulting in its modernization. Canada has now joined five international intellectual property treaties, including the Madrid Protocol, Singapore Treaty and Nice Agreement,...more
Your community association ("Association") probably invests substantial resources in protecting and maintaining its green spaces, facilities, and other common elements. But what about its good name? If your community is of...more
Trademark clearance and registration—sounds like an additional legal expense, right? Unfortunately, this potential cost is the reason many individuals and businesses forgo the trademark clearance and registration process...more
As the fourth of July holiday and midterm elections approach, you may be seeing more of the American flag, and other variations on the red, white, and blue, in your day-to-day activities. As a visual cue of patriotism, it may...more
The Canadian federal government is moving quickly towards legalizing the possession and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes. However, Canada’s cannabis industry is already “overgrown” with many licensed (and...more
As 2017 draws to a close and we begin to look forward to the new year, the countdown to the implementation of Canada’s new trademark law begins in earnest. Announced in 2014, Canada’s Bill C-31 is expected to be implemented...more
All brands should strive to be unique. However, it is particularly important that businesses in competitive industries, like the cannabis industry, adopt brands that are highly distinctive and unique. Why? In competitive...more