No one likes a bully, and that includes “trademark bullies.” One definition of “bullying” is, to treat in an overbearing or intimidating manner (synonym = intimidate). So how exactly does one intimidate others with trademarks? Through aggressive litigation tactics by those with power against those with limited resources. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) […]
Category: Intellectual Property
When a trading card company uses a professional athlete’s picture on one of its cards, it needs to first have permission from the athlete before printing the cards and selling them to the public for profit. Karim Abdul-Jabbar is ready to put up a fight against the Upper Deck Inc. after the company released cards […]
Peer-to-peer music sharing’s glory days are long gone. Napster used to be a favorite for people interested in swapping music with one another for free. It did not take too long for the music industry to see the writing on the wall, and Napster had to completely change the services it offered. Other peer-to-peer start-ups […]
I hope that you have not yet grown completely tired of hearing “There’s an App for That” during breaks of your favorite television shows, because in all likelihood, you are going to continue to hear it in Apple advertisements. And don’t think that you are clever by copying the slogan for use in selling your […]
Solid blue background with thin all caps white block letters that spell the word “GAP”. That’s the logo that has been associated with the American clothing and accessories retailer for as long as I can remember. But earlier this month, the company decided that it was time for a change of branding. A new logo […]
As a consumer of NFL merchandise, I think it is great that the NFL and Nike were able to put together a five year deal, which makes Nike the official uniform provider of the NFL beginning in April 2012. Nike makes a fantastic product, which is tough for other large companies to match. But as […]
You want to create some websites. You understand the value of owning the domain name for your name (i.e. DarrenHeitner.com), you need a website for your company, and maybe you also want to start up a blog. But you have no idea how to write the code for your various sites and do not feel […]
On October 6, 2010, Willis & Woy Sports Group, L.L.C., and Jordan Woy v. Horace Smith, et al. was filed in a district court in Dallas County, Texas. In the petition, application for temporary restraining order, and application for injunctive relief, Jordan Woy alleges that former client and Willis & Woy employee, Horace Smith, used […]
Last week, we looked at a case where Google was found guilty of defaming a person based on Google’s search engine’s suggested results when the person was typing his name in the search box. In a similar case, a woman named Beverly Stayart sued Yahoo! after she put her name into Yahoo!’s search engine and […]
The University of South Carolina and University of Southern California have had their fair share of battles this year. Both schools have mostly defeated the competition, each with only one loss thus far this season. The two schools have also had to deal with NCAA scrutiny. Southern California has a 2-year bowl ban, 4 years’ […]