Is My Guitar Pedal a Klone or a Counterfeit? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle
The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle
(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: 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: 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: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle (Podcast)
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle
Recognizing and Avoiding Trademark Scams and Hoaxes
Why Did the World Wrestling Federation Become WWE? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Turbulence – Oakland vs SFO in Trademark Showdown
The Briefing: Trademark Turbulence – Oakland vs SFO in Trademark Showdown
(Podcast) The Briefing: Bad Spirits – How a Dog Toy Changed TV Title Clearance
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
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision confirming that using similar names for businesses in the same industry can result in a likelihood of confusion despite the physical distance of the entities. In...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court’s decision finding no infringement that focused on only the geographic distance between the physical locations of the two users without considering the...more
In a recent precedential cancellation decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) partially granted Respondent’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the parties’ stipulation that prior proceedings between...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
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment decision finding that the prior owner of a trademark for fresh chicken had abandoned the mark by failing to use it for three years and...more
In a case that required the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to articulate the boundary between the Lanham Act and the First Amendment when the trademark in question is the name of a political party, the Court found...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
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment denial and determination that the definition of “beer” (which encompassed “other versions and combinations” of beer and malt...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgement to a luxury-watchmaker defendant, holding that its use of a registered and incontestable trademarked term was fair use...more
On December 13, 2023, Variety reported that Luke Combs stated he was “sick to [his] stomach” to learn he won a $250K judgment in Illinois federal court against a Florida woman who earned $380, selling 18 handmade Luke...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
The appellants, Interprofession du Gruyère and Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère, are two consortiums, Swiss and French, that regulate use of the term ‘gruyere’ to refer only to cheeses produced in the Gruyère district...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment grant in favor of the opposers of a certification mark application for the trademark GRUYERE to designate cheese that originates in the Gruyère region...more
On March 3rd, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia upheld a ruling that cheese labeled GRUYERE can be used to legally describe cheese made from outside the Gruyere region of Switzerland 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