New Orleans is a wonderful place to meet interesting people and experience some of the best life has to offer. On April 26- 28th, I had the great fortune to serve as the Chair of the DRI Intellectual Property Litigation Seminar in New Orleans. This happened in...
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney
Ed Sheeran’s Win Shows Building Blocks of Music Cannot be Copyrighted
Musical artists have always had to deal with questions of copyright. In recent years, however, many have felt a shiver up their spine from copyright issues that deal with the basic building blocks of music. That encompasses fundamentals like chord progressions,...
Trademark Infringement Case Challenges Courts to Define How the Lanham Act Applies Abroad
We have talked about the Lanham Act previously in regards to how it helps define the U.S. trademark registration system. A recent case involving a U.S. company and its European distributor brings up a specific question about the Lanham Act: does it apply to...
“Mass Copyright Infringement”: Internet Archive Faces Copyright Judgment
As we have discussed, a central theme of U.S. Copyright law is the stimulation of creative ideas, their free exchange, and commercial profitability from them. This is why copyright enforcement is not black-and-white/all-or-nothing – not all infringement is considered...
“Whiskey” Business – A Parody Dog Toy’s Continued Legal Battle with Jack Daniel’s
At the end of 2022, I wrote about the Jack Daniel's parody toy case against Phoenix-based VIP Company. It has been ongoing for some time now, with both parties arguing their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Well, just a few weeks back, there was an update...
Shanghai Police Apprehend Lego Infringers
In many copyright infringement cases, there is a bit of gray area. Perhaps the accused did not realize they were infringing on another’s intellectual property. Or they believed that their usage was allowed due to parody or educational purposes. This is not what...
What Is the Protecting Intellectual Property Act?
At the beginning of this year, President Biden signed the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act into law. We already have laws protecting intellectual property assets, as well as measures to punish those who flout those laws: civil lawsuits, the U.S....
Can You Copyright a Font? “Blooming Elegant” Designer Confronts Zazzle
If you have ever opened a wedding invitation from Zazzle, you have likely crossed paths with the Blooming Elegant font, a curly typeface in the “handwritten” family. Well, until recently. Its disappearance from the website last summer at the behest of its designer...