The Rise of OTAs in Defense Contracting: Opportunities, Risks, and What Contractors Need to Know
Money-Saving Licensing Tips for Startups
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
A Counterintuitive Approach to Winning Without Litigation: One-on-One with Haley Morrison
SkadBytes Podcast | Tech’s Shifting Landscape: Five Trends Shaping the Conversation
Tips for Conducting a Trade Secret Assessment with Rob Jensen
Will I Get Sued if I Create Another Hospital Drama? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
Essential Steps to Sell Your Business
Mickey Mouse: un ratón con abogado
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: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - NCAA Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) Update – Effects of House Settlement
How IP Can Fuel Your Startup's Growth
Tariffs and Trade Series: What Senior Management Teams Need to Know
5 Key Takeaways | AI and Your Patent Management, Strategy & Portfolio
Two Key Considerations in NIL Deals
In this episode of The Upper Brand, Richard Assmus, Kristine Young, and Christa Cole delve into key court cases that have shaped trademark law. They explore the intricacies of functional and generic trademarks, with insights...more
Two years after the US Supreme Court’s decision in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc., US trademark owners and global businesses continue to grapple with its implications for cross-border enforcement. The...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
I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a TOYS R US kid. So, many of us grew up with this commercial jingle and it along with the brand brings back positive memories of celebrating birthdays and holidays. But what happens when a company...more
District court grants Disney’s motion for summary judgment, holding it did not infringe plaintiffs’ copyright in blue-eyed ukulele-playing turtle character, but rather independently created its own musical turtle character,...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
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
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
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
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the test for determining whether a word mark is generic also applies to color marks....more
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Heritage Alliance v. American Policy Roundtable, Case No. 24-1155 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 9, 2025), provides a salient reminder to brand owners seeking to build value in descriptive trademarks...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
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
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Dewberry Group v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. (23-900 (604 U.S. _____ (2025)), provides important guidance on corporate separateness, trademark enforcement and the scope of damages...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board decision to partially cancel trademarks, ruling that an opposition challenger could not use the zone of natural expansion doctrine to...more
TTAB sustains opposition based on reputation without use in the United States - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Legal updates: case law analysis and intelligence - The opponent, owner of Venezuelan company La Montserratina,...more
Suppose that you have obtained a U.S. trademark registration for your trademark on goods or services for your business. Can your trademark registration be cancelled with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed Trademark Trial & Appeal Board rulings, finding that a previously generic term was not generic at the time registration was sought because at that time the mark, as...more
The Supreme Court vacates a decision treating a company and its affiliates as "one and the same" for purposes of disgorging profits for trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, but leaves many questions unaddressed....more
On February 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously vacated a nearly $43 million award in a trademark dispute that raised the question of whether a defendant’s affiliates could be held liable for payment of a disgorged...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in the Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. case was released Wednesday. In a unanimous opinion, the Court found that Section 35 of the Lanham Act, which provides that a plaintiff...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a district court’s dismissal of a complaint for trade dress infringement and unfair competition, finding that the district court erred in requiring the...more
Addressing this case for the third time, the US District Court for the District of Arizona found on remand that Jack Daniel’s was entitled to a permanent injunction after finding that VIP Products’ “Bad Spaniels” dog toy...more