Insights
Why Disney Told Google to Stop Using Its IP While Making a Deal with OpenAI
This one was so big that you may have already heard about it even if you do not have your ear to the ground for IP news. In December 2025, The Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google alleging unauthorized use of Disney’s copyrighted works in...
Federal Circuit Reverses TTAB Refusal to Register KAHWA: A Lesson for Trademark Applicants
On December 9, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision reversing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to register the trademark KAHWA for use in connection with cafes and coffee shops. This...
Copyright Alliance Claims Protections Aren’t Barriers to AI Development
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape commerce, media, and technology, policymakers face a familiar but difficult question: how to encourage innovation without eroding the legal frameworks that made that innovation possible in the first place. A recent...
Social Media Screening & Mass H-1B Rescheduling
The State Department has rapidly activated its expanded “online presence review” announced last week for all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants starting December 15, 2025, and U.S. consulates in India are already rescheduling thousands of H-1B/H-4 visa appointments into...
Holiday Travel Alert 2025: What HR and Foreign National Employees Must Know Before Leaving the U.S.
Your updated, no-surprises guide to consulates, visa risks, CBP inspections, and reentry challenges. The holiday season brings well-deserved rest and reunions—and we continue to receive many questions about travelling abroad because international travel, under the...
How Lululemon Is Fighting “Dupe” Culture – and What It Means
In the social media era, the rise of so-called “dupes” (lower-priced look-alike versions of popular products) has shifted from a fringe practice into a mainstream consumer trend. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram actively promote comparison shopping, and entire...
USCIS has paused adjudications for immigration benefits for individuals tied to 19 countries — affecting work visas, green cards, and more.
Dear Clients and Friends, USCIS has quietly implemented a broad pause on adjudicating immigration benefits for individuals born in — or citizens of — 19 designated countries. This is a major escalation in what has become an era of intensified vetting, and it has...
$833 Million Trade Secret Verdict Offers a Stark Warning for Businesses
Intellectual property disputes often make headlines when they involve patents, trademarks, or counterfeit goods. But a recent California ruling affirming an $833 million judgment in favor of Propel Fuels against Phillips 66 illustrates that trade secrets, though less...