On June 11, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) administrative order against 1-800 Contacts, Inc. The Second Circuit found that the online retailer’s trademark…
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/ Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property
On December 27, 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“the Act”) became law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Among other changes, the Act includes important amendments to the Lanham Act..…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property
One of the provisions included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act that President Trump signed into law on December 27, 2020 addresses the so-called “felony streaming” loophole in the Copyright Act and criminal code. …
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Communications & Media Law, Criminal Law, Intellectual Property, Science, Computers, & Technology
Following up on our initial report last year on the possible creation of a Copyright Claims Board, we can now confirm the creation of that Board. The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law by President Trump on December…
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/ Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a pair of Guidance for Industry documents outlining best practices for developing proprietary names (i.e. brand names) for prescription and nonprescription human drug…
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/ Intellectual Property, Science, Computers, & Technology
As we reported in our July 7, 2020 blog post on the USPTO v. Booking.com B.V decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a proposed mark consisting of the combination of a generic term and a generic top-level domain, like…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property, Science, Computers, & Technology
In a recent decision from the Second Circuit, Judges Parker, Chin, and Carney side-stepped a novel question: whether human skin can be the kind of "tangible medium of expression" required for copyright protection. Instead, the…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Conflict of Laws, Intellectual Property
In a recent decision from the Southern District of New York, Judge George B. Daniels held that the strong First Amendment interests in protecting free artistic expression warranted summary judgment that Activision Blizzard’s use…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law
In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court held that a trademark owner need not prove willful infringement in order to seek lost profits from a trademark infringer. The case, Romag Fasteners Inc. v. Fossil Inc. et al., case…
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/ Civil Procedure, Civil Remedies, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property
Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the winner of the Masters Tournament, one of golf’s four major championships. Although Augusta National, Inc. had successfully registered the word mark GREEN JACKET as a trademark…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Intellectual Property
The constitutionality of yet another portion of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act will soon be determined. Following in the footsteps of the blockbuster decision in Matal v. Tam, 137 S. Ct. 1744 (2017) (“Tam”), the U.S. Supreme…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property
This year the Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Circuit Courts penned a number of opinions impacting trademark law. Here are some key takeaways from the past year..…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Intellectual Property, Science, Computers, & Technology
Relatives of the late conservative political activist, Phyllis Schlafly, lost their appeal to prevent the Saint Louis Brewery, LLC (“the Brewery”) from trademarking the Schlafly name in connection with various beer products on…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Constitutional Law, Consumer Protection, Intellectual Property
Well, it’s official: Naruto, the crested macaque monkey who took photographs of himself while on a reserve on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2011, lacks statutory standing under the US Copyright Act to sue for copyright…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property
Two incredible things happened in 1992 for the NFL football team Washington Redskins. It won the Super Bowl and applied to register a trademark Washington Redskins. It has not been so lucky ever since. It has not won another…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property
