Is My Guitar Pedal a Klone or a Counterfeit? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
(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: Influencer Fail – ALO Yoga & Influencers Named in $150M Class Action Lawsuit for FTC Violations
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
The Briefing: Everyone Loves the HBO Series 'White Lotus,' Except Duke University
SCOTUS and federal court rulings on TTAB decisions on granting trademarks and trademark renewals; Netflix settling an anticipated defamation case with a disclaimer and donation
Tag, You’re Sued: Graffiti Artists Sue Over Use of Their Tags
(Podcast) The Briefing: Tag, You’re Sued: Graffiti Artists Sue Over Use of Their Tags
The IP of Everything Podcast - Episode 22 - The IP of Dog Toys
Roundup of 2023 Entertainment Law Cases: Analysis SAG/AFTRA and WGA contracts, No Parody of Iconic Sneaker, AI Copyright Highlights China vs US law; SCOTUS Bad Spaniel and Warhol/Prince.
The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
The Briefing: The Supreme Court Limits the Reach of The Lanham Act [PODCAST]
In a recent decision establishing important precedent for trademark rights associated with digital assets, the Court of Appeals in Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps, Case No. 24-879, 2025 WL 2056060 (9th Cir. July 23, 2025), clarified...more
Whether a business is launching a new product or rebranding an existing company, selecting a name, logo, or slogan is a crucial decision. Trademarks are powerful tools that identify the source of goods or services and protect...more
SUNKIST GROWERS, INC. v. INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTORS, INC. - Before Prost, Taranto, and Stark. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The TTAB incorrectly found that similar trademarks created distinct commercial...more
In this episode, Austin Padgett and Rusty Close venture into the dynamic world of guitar pedals, focusing on the iconic Klon Centaur and its creator's legal showdown with Behringer's Centaur Overdrive. While many Klon...more
Nike and Sneaker Customizer Lace Up a Settlement - On June 18, 2025, Nike, Inc. (“Nike”) and Dominic Ciambrone (“Ciambrone”), founder of the shoe customization outfit, The Shoe Surgeon, entered into a confidential...more
Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of Lanham Act claims regarding use of drag queen Vicky Vox’s image and likeness in animated Netflix show and teaser trailer, holding, under Rogers test, that use was artistically relevant to...more
Watching a Cubs game from a nearby rooftop sounds like an ideal afternoon. At Wrigley Field, it became a business. For years, rooftop owners near the stadium sold tickets, served food and drinks, and offered fans a unique...more
Background and Supreme Court Decision - As previously reported, in Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 599 U.S. 140 (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court clarified a crucial boundary in trademark law: when an...more
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
District court denies rapper 50 Cent’s motion to preliminarily enjoin release of horror film Skill House, holding plaintiff failed to show likelihood of success, or even serious questions, on merits of his right of publicity...more
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
Affirming a summary judgment decision finding no trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that the district court properly focused on domestic activity with regard...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's (Seventh Circuit) decision in Curry v. Revolution Laboratories, LLC, 124 F.4th 441 (7th Cir. 2024), has drawn attention to the interplay between federal and state law in...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s summary judgment decision that a co-owner of a trademark cannot bring infringement or dilution claims under the Lanham Act against other co-owners or...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
Suppose that you want to register your trademark that is in a non-English language on goods or services for your business in the United States. Will your non-English language trademark need to be translated to English to...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
IN RE THOMAS D. FOSTER, APC, - Before Moore, Prost, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act bars registration of a pending application for a mark that falsely...more
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a denial by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of an application filed by fashion house Vetements Group AG for VETEMENTS for various articles of...more
Recent Supreme Court decisions underscore how viewpoint-based refusals of trademark applications are unconstitutional. But can these viewpoint-based refusals survive under the "failure-to-function" doctrine instead?...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