Can copyright lawsuits ever be used for purposes other than protecting your own intellectual property? A recent case in Southern California shows a novel copyright infringement suit.David Berkovitz, a professor at Chapman University, taught his Business 215 class...
Marks Gray
Defense Research Institute Intellectual Property Conference 2022 – Houston, TX
I am writing to you from Houston, TX this week. I spent the past few days attending a Defense Research Institute (DRI) conference on Intellectual Property Litigation here. For two days, I have listened to speakers and watched presentations about copyright,...
Copyright Infringement at the Winter Olympics: House of the Rising Sun
What do you imagine when you hear “Winter Olympics”? Steep hills of snow, racers on skis, lyrical ice skaters… And copyright infringement? Musicians and brothers Robert and Aron Marderosian – known as the musical artist “Heavy Young Heathens” – are waging a copyright...
Cult Gaia “Ark” Bag: What Makes a Mark Generic or Distinctive?
The fashion world is incredibly focused on iterations, drawing on historical style choices and reusing them over time. Because of this, it is an interesting question to consider what products can be registered as a distinct trademark – and what cannot. If a product...
LEGO, Queer Eye Wardrobe, and Copyright Infringement
An oversight by ITV and Netflix may have led to a copyright infringement case against toymaker LEGO – one of many reasons to get clearance for any artwork used in a show. How are these companies connected in this story? In Netflix’s Queer Eye series, artist James...
Rogue Little Caesars Face Trademark Infringement
Franchise business operations are heavily governed by rules. These rules make it possible to both protect and share the intellectual property of the central business’s marks. When the rules are violated, the mutual commercial relationship breaks down. In Seattle, WA,...
Taylor Swift Copyright Infringement Case Goes to Trial
Mega-pop-star Taylor Swift finds herself going to trial for copyright infringement over two phrases from her major hit “Shake It Off”: “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate.” The case has climbed the judicial ladder for several years, starting with the lawsuit...
Inside the Trademark Modernization Act
Is the number of available trademarks finite? No, but you should be asking a different question: is the number of effective trademarks finite? Absolutely. In the past few years, trademark registrations have soared, with a noticeable uptick from applicants in China....