Insights
November IP Event: The International Trademark Association Leadership Meeting
This November 15-17th, the International Trademark Association is holding its annual Leadership Meeting in Houston, TX. This is an invite-only conference for board members and leaders of committees for the Association. Since I have been serving on the...
Famous Authors Fight Back Against AI Using Their Content for Free
Authors – and the writing world in general – have largely been up in arms over the rise of ChatGPT and other AI aggregator programs that “create” their content by crawling through existing material and stitching it together – to arguably make something new. One of the...
Land Use Designation on Beer Can Island
What’s the use of a land designation? If you have spent any time looking into land zoning, you may have discovered its older and wiser cousin in real estate law. Both land use designation and land zoning come into play in an ongoing dialogue over a small, private...
Navigating Name Discrepancies in Form I-9: Can Employers Accept Supporting Documents with Different Names?
Happy Fall, everyone! Last month I flew to Australia to participate in a Marathon there – and, of course, explore the amazing things the country has to offer. The entire experience was incredible, and it got me thinking about how working in HR is kind of like a...
When a Sound Can Be Registered as a Trademark for Goods
It is fairly uncommon for a sound to serve as a trademark for goods, likely due to how we define trademarks. In order for a mark to be registered, it must the mark must serve as a source identifier for the product or service. Typically, this involves that mark being...
Video: Best Practices in I-9 Compliance for HR Professionals
You might be wondering: "How bad can a few simple I-9 mistakes be?" It's natural to think that a mistake or two won’t matter. Especially if you’re busy with lots of other things or haven’t been trained to avoid these mistakes. Unfortunately, when it comes to...
Can a Company Use a Social Media Video Without Licensing? Courts Say “No”
In the age of social media, video content has never been more widely available. What used to demand the planning and labor of a film crew and TV/theatrical distribution can now be spontaneously shot on someone’s phone and released on Instagram. Perhaps the casual...
Cannabis Candy Makers: Read This Before You Register a Trademark
We have addressed CBD and cannabis products in recent years on this blog, but the story continues to evolve as more and more states make not only CBD but full THC products legal. Federal legalization remains elusive, but is likely inevitable. In particular, CBD and...