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Lamebook, We Support You!

I know this story is already a couple of days old, but we think it’s still worth reporting on.  For anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on, Facebook has been on a tear recently trying to flex its trademark muscles, suing and threatening to sue pretty much anyone who uses the word “book” in their [...]

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IP Holding Companies – Why You Need One

If you’re running your own small business, and you don’t have a holding company for your intellectual property, you should make an appointment to have your head examined.  Creating a separate entity, solely for the purpose of owning your IP, is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to insure the goodwill associated with your business.

I [...]

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Removing “Confusion” with Trademarks

Trademarks are a huge part of everyone’s daily lives; yet the laws that dictate their use and abuse are not nearly as well known.  A single trip to the grocery store may expose you to literally thousands of trademarks.  There are the ones you expect to see (e.g., the word “Kellogg’s” on that box of [...]

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Streisand 101

In an effort (I’m assuming) to be hip and relevant, my alma mater (and Randazza‘s previous teaching gig) has begun adding courses to their curriculum that have little to do with the law or lawyering.  One example is a course called “Popular Culture and the Law,” to which the registrar has assigned the following course [...]

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Does Disney Own the Concept of a Castle?

It is a well known axiom of U.S. intellectual property law that there is no protection afforded to mere ideas.  In order to employ the force and power of our legal system to enforce your intellectual property rights, you must have something more concrete than an idea.  In patent law, for example, you must have [...]

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File under “Lamest.  Publicity.  Stunts.  Ever.”

A federal lawsuit was filed this week in the Southern District of Florida, alleging violation of the Trademark Protection Act (source).  I would just like to refer the filing attorney, Juan Abogado, to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.

This post was originally published on The Tactical IP Blog.

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The USPTO Embraces the Blogosphere, Lobbies for First-to-File

Kappos: “Hey Ted, can you show me how these here tubes work?”

The U.S. Government Agency that is responsible for validating which technologies are new and useful has discovered a not so new, yet highly useful tool: web logs.

In an effort to open a line of communication between the USPTO and the [...]

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Mattel finally learns how to "chill"

One of the chores inherent in the practice of law is that one has to read a lot of really REALLY dry court opinions.  It’s always nice when you find judges out there who recognize this, and make some effort to keep it interesting.  One of my favorites from law school has always been Mattel, [...]

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Tactical IP's Latest Bully Award Nominations

For a couple of weeks now, Tactical IP has been putting together a list of companies that deserve recognition for their *outstanding* intellectual property enforcement efforts.  Below is their latest list of "IP Bully of the Month" nominees.  You can check out all the recent entries here.  Feel free to comment on who you think [...]

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Immoral or Scandalous Matter?

One of the "peculiarities" of U.S. trademark law is that the government has a stick up its collective ass about recognizing trademarks that may be suggestive of dick-and-fart humor.  Section 2 of the Lanham Act (the federal statute that creates trademark rights) provides:

No trademark by which the goods of the applicant may be distinguished from [...]

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