Trademark, Copyright, and Unfair Competition Law Blog

In a decision that might be the final ruling in a long saga over the rights to use the term PRETZEL CRISPS, the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina found the term PRETZEL CRISPS generic for pretzel crackers. » Read More

While every business recognizes the need to protect its intellectual property, it’s easy to get confused about what each type of intellectual property protects. Even major newspapers often get it wrong, saying a company has a patent on using a word or copyright on a technique or process. » Read More

Scammers haven’t stopped sending our clients fake trademark renewal notices, bilking them of thousands of dollars. For this reason, I am posting an updated version of my original blog post, “Beware the Trademark Scammers,” to help you differentiate between legitimate reminders and the many trademark scams being perpetrated by those out to steal your money. » Read More

The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) was signed into law at the end of last year, and we recently provided an overview of three key provisions practitioners and trademark owners should know about. Earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking setting forth the rules and procedures implementing two of those changes: the new proceedings to cancel registrations in whole or in part, and the changes to the time to respond to office actions. » Read More

United States law offers four types of protection for intellectual property, namely patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Only two of these, patents and trade secrets, can grant you the protection of ideas. Besides this superficial similarity, patents and trade secrets are different, both in the kinds of ideas they can protect and in the responsibilities of the owner of the patent or trade secret. » Read More

If you think patents are all about protecting something “technical” or something only a scientist or engineer could appreciate, you are mistaken. Patents can protect how things look as well as how they work. If you want to protect how something works, you need a Utility Patent. » Read More

In an important decision that many were watching for guidance on the scope of copyright protection afforded software, in the recent Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. copyright dispute, the Supreme Court weighed in on the scope of protection available for application programming interfaces (APIs). » Read More

Issues of the geographic indications of products regularly turn up in the trademark context. Some well-known examples include COGNAC for brandy from France or ROQUEFORT for cheese manufactured from sheep’s milk only, and cured in the natural caves of the community of Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. » Read More

One reason individuals and businesses register their trademarks before or shortly after they begin using the trademarked content commercially is that registration provides legal protection from other parties trying to benefit financially from the trademark owner’s ideas without their consent. Legal remedies available to the trademark owner include bringing the issue before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and filing a lawsuit in civil court. » Read More

Twenty-three years after the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), the social media landscape remains a “Wild Wild West” for copyright owners. Though not afforded the attention attracted by the spread of misinformation on these platforms, copyright enforcement can be an uphill battle for copyright owners, as social media companies struggle to enforce rules of conduct for the enormous output of third-party content they host. » Read More