Is My Guitar Pedal a Klone or a Counterfeit? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Basics – Protecting Names, Logos, and Brands in Entertainment
The Briefing: Trademark Basics - Protecting Names, Logos, and Brands in Entertainment
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Cease and Desist Letters: Protecting Your Intellectual Property the Right Way
(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
Mickey Mouse: un ratón con abogado
(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
(Podcast) The Briefing: Everyone Loves the HBO Series 'White Lotus,' Except Duke University
What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 2) — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: Court Drowns Pepperdine's 'Waves' Trademark Battle Against Netflix
(Podcast) The Briefing: Court Drowns Pepperdine's 'Waves' Trademark Battle Against Netflix
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle (Podcast)
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle
(Podcast) The Briefing: Bad Spaniels – Infringement? No. Dilution? Yes
The Briefing: Bad Spaniels – Infringement? No. Dilution? Yes
Can My Trademark Be a Victim of Genericide? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Leverage Your IP - Residual Goodwill in Trademarks
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 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
On June 11, 2025, in likely the most significant ruling of the longstanding feud between the social media website, Reddit, Inc., and the founder of its notorious “WallStreetBets” subreddit community, Jaime Rogozinski, the...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
Addressing a jury’s statutory damages award that surpassed the plaintiffs’ actual damages, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion for judgment as a...more
In wrapping up the 2023-24 term and embarking on the 2024-25 term, the Supreme Court was asked to decide a number of intellectual property cases. The Court issued several significant opinions in 2024 and has taken several...more
Many eyes were on the Nittany Lions this past year as sports pundits speculated The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) would make it to the College Football National Championship. But those with an interest in...more
In BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP v. Cent. Coast Agric., Inc., 97 F.4th 668 (9th Cir. 2024), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal district courts have power to adjudicate trademark applications pursuant to the Lanham...more
Actual confusion is considered the sine qua non of trademark infringement. The presence of actual confusion can carry the day in proving a likelihood of confusion entitling the claimant to summary judgment. But not all...more
In Riseandshine Corporation v PepsiCo Inc (SDNY-1-21-cv-06324), plaintiff Riseandshine Corporation, doing business as Rise Brewing, brought three federal and two state claims relating to trademark infringement and unfair...more
In a trademark infringement and breach of contract case involving real estate companies with a shared name, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the trademark owner, including...more
Following the district court’s finding of trademark infringement on summary judgment, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s subsequent award of profits, costs and attorneys’ fees in favor...more
Barbenheimer is a new term for consecutively watching the movies “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” In honor thereof, we present the Barbenheimer Legal Alert. Did you know Mattel sued, and lost, to stop the “Barbie Girl” song?...more
In a case between similarly named banks, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit confirmed expert disclosure requirements, conducted a de novo likelihood of confusion analysis and ultimately upheld a finding of no...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded a summary judgment ruling, finding that there were genuine disputes of material fact regarding whether the plaintiff’s alleged trade dress was functional and...more
At the heart of what is considered the first NFT trademark trial were two competing arguments: Were the artist Mason Rothschild’s creation of “MetaBirkin” NFTs — digital images of blurry faux fur-covered handbags inspired by...more
On February 8, 2023, a federal jury awarded Hermès International and Hermès of Paris, Inc. (“Hermès”) $133,000 in its trademark lawsuit against designer Mason Rothschild. Hermès sued Rothschild for selling non-fungible tokens...more
In a case with clear implications for non-fungible token art-based projects, a federal jury in the case of Hermès International, et al. v. Mason Rothschild, 1:22-cv-00384 (SDNY), found in favor of fashion brand Hermès in its...more
A dispute between luxury fashion brand Hermès and digital artist Mason Rothschild over Hermès’ alleged trademark rights relating to the Hermès’ Birkin handbag is making waves as a New York federal judge has denied...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment of noninfringement in a trade dress suit, finding that the trade dress was functional and the attorneys’ fee award—as diminished by the district...more
On Monday, November 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal filed by Jack Daniel’s. In this appeal, Jack Daniel’s argued that the Ninth Circuit erred by upholding the lower court’s grant of summary judgment to...more
Addressing laches and progressive encroachment, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s grant of summary judgment based on laches because the district court failed to “conduct a...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a trademark suit that was essentially identical to a previous lawsuit that was dismissed based on a finding of lack of confusion....more
In an interesting twist, the Ninth Circuit granted summary judgment to a defendant in a trademark infringement case in Lodestar v. Bacardi on April 21, 2022. Given the Ninth Circuit’s common refrain that “summary judgment is...more
A US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel vacated a grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, holding that the first sale doctrine applies when a trademarked product is incorporated into a new product....more