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
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
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 a precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently blessed the test used by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) for denying registration to PT Medisafe Technologies for a...more
In another in a long line of trademark imitation cases, Kellogg North America Co. LLC has filed a trademark and trade dress infringement lawsuit against a small Ohio-based food truck named L’eggo My Eggroll, arguing that the...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
In refusing registration of the color green for “chloroprene medical examination gloves,” the Federal Circuit adopted — for the first time — a legal test for genericness of color marks. The decision underscores the high...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
On January 23, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued a final decision ending the intensely disputed, decade-long litigation between Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. and VIP Products LLC....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
After a decade of litigation and a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from 2023, the legal battle between Jack Daniel’s and VIP Products has taken yet another turn, this time back in favor of Jack Daniel’s. On remand from 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
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
40 years ago, I was the new kid in 6th grade – truly a terrible age in a young girl’s life to try and “fit in” at a new elementary school in a small town. But, one of my best memories from that year was procuring my first...more
Explore the legal intricacies of dog toy trademarks such as Chewy Vuitton and Bad Spaniels. Uncover key cases, including a pivotal Supreme Court showdown, with implications for both canines and intellectual property at large....more
When a retail brand has a consistent, unique look and seeks enforcement against a too-similar competitor or a brash counterfeiter, trade dress protection under the Lanham Act provides the muscle. But part of what makes trade...more
In business, trademarks are everything. It's how consumers come to know, love and trust your brand. It's a valuable corporate asset, and many disputes can arise of name rights with the explosion of e-commerce and the...more
After a de novo review, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s motion to dismiss, finding the competing marks sufficiently similar to avoid dismissal, and the...more
The US Supreme Court rejected First Amendment defenses raised by the maker of whiskey bottle-shaped dog chew toys branded BAD SPANIELS based on claims of trademark infringement and dilution of JACK DANIEL’S marks. ...more
The Bottom Line - The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided that, when using another’s trademark “as a designation of source for the infringer’s own goods,” one is not entitled to a First Amendment defense even if the use...more
In the Public Interest is excited to present a miniseries examining notable decisions recently issued by the United States Supreme Court. The first episode in the miniseries welcomes WilmerHale Partner Thomas Saunders, who...more
The U.S. Supreme Court provided clarification on the application of the Rogers test in relation to Jack Daniels v. VIP Products. Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg talk about this ruling on this episode of The Briefing by the...more
The Bad Spaniels and MetaBirkin cases clarify that artistic expression is no foolproof defense to trademark infringement. Brand owners welcomed the decision the US Supreme Court rendered in Jack Daniel's Properties Inc....more
Thank you for reading the June 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we begin a three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights; share an article that examines the...more
On June 8, 2023, brand owners breathed a sigh of relief with the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling consistent with prior jurisprudence that potential infringers of a famous trademark are not precluded from liability by merely...more