The Briefing: The Wrong Argument – Why Authors Lost Against Meta and What Comes Next
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
The Briefing: Anthropic, Copyright, and the Fair Use Divide
Will I Get Sued if I Create Another Hospital Drama? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: The Supreme Court Dodges the Discovery Rule Question—What That Means for Copyright Enforcement
The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle
The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
The Briefing: The Ninth Circuit Puts the Brakes on Eleanor’s Copyright Claim
Unexpected Paths to IP Law with Dan Young and Colin White
Why Can't I Clean the Graffiti Off My Walls? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: Who Owns Jack Nicklaus? Lessons for The Creator Economy From a Brand Battle
The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
Can Tattoos Be Copyrighted? The Legal Battle Over Mike Tyson's Iconic Ink — No Infringement Intended Podcast
Trade Secrets on Trial: Strategic Decisions for the Courtroom - Employment Law This Week® - Spilling Secrets Podcast
Navigating PTAB’s New Approach to IPR and PGR Discretionary Denial - Patents: Post-Grant Podcast
The Briefing: Everyone Loves the HBO Series 'White Lotus,' Except Duke University
House Final Settlement Hearing: Key Insights and Future Implications for NIL — Highway to NIL Podcast
What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 2) — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: Sequel, Spin-Off, or Something Else? The Legal Battle Over "ER" and "The Pitt"
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that a non-fungible token (NFT) is a “good” under the Lanham Act but reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for trademark infringement because the owner...more
Legal updates: case law analysis and intelligence - - The TTAB, applying the Milwaukee test, rejected an application for a dark green colour mark for medical gloves on the ground that it was generic - The Federal Circuit...more
Often, individuals joining together on a project believe they should each own the name they choose. Indeed, it only seems fair. But having multiple owners of a single trademark is a recipe for trouble, and the partners would...more
IP cases in the cannabis industry are lighting up court dockets more and more. In a new case with potential for serious baggage, Kinzie Advanced Polymers, LLC (“Kinzie”) filed a federal lawsuit against a group of...more
“I love reality TV!” Cue the eyerolls. For many, admitting to watching reality TV is often done begrudgingly or dismissed as a “guilty pleasure.” But why the stigma? Reality television has it all: drama, competition, social...more
Legal Issue: Some people think you can just sell a trademark for profit. Sometimes these are called trademark farms where people will register a trademark only to sell it. Another situation arises where a company is...more
In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley dive into Pepperdine University v. Netflix, a trademark showdown over the use of the name “Waves” in the Netflix series Running Point. After Pepperdine’s...more
Addressing for the first time the issue of whether a foreign intellectual property holding company is subject to personal jurisdiction in the United States, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district...more
In this episode of The Upper Brand, Kristine Young and Rich Assmus discuss the recent Federal Circuit case regarding the doctrine of foreign equivalents in trademark law. They explore the concepts of descriptiveness and...more
After nearly 30 years of litigation, a federal court has canceled General Cigar’s U.S. trademarks for COHIBA cigars — all because of a little-known treaty and a Cuban brand once favored by Fidel Castro. What does this mean...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of a trademark opposition brought by a consumer, holding that mere consumer interest is insufficient to establish...more
On April 15, 2025, after jurors found a line of dolls from the toymaker, MGA Entertainment, Inc. (“MGA”), infringed the trade dress rights of a pop group owned by music artists Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris,...more
A recent Arizona district court decision reminds brand owners that bold accusations of false association and deceptive branding can quickly fall apart in the absence of certain key facts. In Armored Group LLC v. Lutzker, the...more
Third-party infringers are finding new ways to sell unauthorized products and profit from doing so. As one example, the third-party seller buys products in bulk from the product owner, receiving a cheaper rate due to bulk...more
The plaintiff AirDoctor sued the defendant under the Lanham Act for advertising and selling filters for use in AirDoctor purifiers. While the defendant advertised its filters as “compatible” and “replacements” for the...more
No matter what type of business you are in, trademark and copyright law can have significant effects on success and growth of your business. Both of these areas of law provide important rights over the intellectual property...more
Pop icon Lady Gaga is no stranger to making waves, but a new lawsuit initiated by California-based surfboard company Lost International (aka Lost Surfboards), shows that even superstars can find themselves navigating choppy...more
In yet another recent example of the need for care in establishing a full record when appealing the denial of a trademark application, on April 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the denial of...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal from the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, finding that the appellant lacked standing because it failed to allege any actual and particularized injury. Michael...more
BULLSHINE DISTILLERY LLC v. SAZERAC BRANDS, LLC - Before Moore, Reyna and Taranto. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In assessing genericness, the TTAB considers how the mark was understood at the time of...more
Can HBO be sued over a T-shirt? Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler unpack Duke University’s beef with 'White Lotus' after a character wore a Duke tee on screen. Does this cross the legal line—or is it just creative expression?...more
There are many valuable benefits of registering one’s trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A cursory Internet search will yield dozens of articles on the “Top 10” or “Top 5” reasons to...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of an opposition to the registration of the marks IVOTERS and IVOTERS.COM while also noting that the US Patent &...more
DOLLAR FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. v. BRITTEX FINANCIAL, INC. [OPINION] - Before Prost, Taranto, and Hughes. Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The zone of natural...more
On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) granted an opposition filed by Jack’s Family Restaurants, LP, and denied an application filed by Jack’s Grill and Billiards, Inc., to register JACK’S...more