The Seventh Circuit, in Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc., 12-1992, 2014 WL 627603 (7th Cir. Feb. 19, 2014), reversed a federal district court ruling and held that an advertisement run by Jewel-Osco supermarkets (“Jewel”) congratulating Michael Jordan on his 2009 induction into the Hall of Fame constituted image advertising—a form of “commercial speech.”  This

In a recent decision by the Second Circuit, Swatch Grp. Mgmt. Servs. Ltd. v. Bloomberg L.P., 12-2412-CV, 2014 WL 274407 (2d Cir. Jan. 27, 2014), Bloomberg L.P. (“Bloomberg”) was found to have a valid fair use defense to copyright infringement, despite obtaining an unauthorized (and unpublished) copy of a sound recording and making it available

It is not all that often that a federal court of appeals sets forth a bright-line rule, much less by a unanimous panel, and even less likely in the hazy area of cyberlaw.  But in Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) v. Godaddy.com, Inc., No. 12-15584 (9th Cir. 2013) three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of a film financier based upon statute of frauds and bona fide purchase defenses in McDonald v. Brown. The Southern District’s decision provides reassurance to parties who obtain rights to creative projects without knowledge of prior legal claims, and

A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia serves as a cautionary tale for trademark applicants seeking to challenge adverse decisions rendered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “TTAB”).  On January 3, 2014, the Court in Shammas v. Focarino ruled that applicants

Note: This blog is cross-posted from Law360.com with permission from Portfolio Media, Inc. This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could have significant impacts on several segments of the television industry. While it may seem unusual that a dispute centered on dime-sized antennas would capture the attention of the high

In the latest installment of the saga involving the use of the retro Baltimore Ravens “Flying B” logo, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court decision in Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Ltd. P’ship, ruling that the incidental use of the team’s logo in NFL Network videos about the history of the Ravens franchise and players,

Background The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia denied the a software company competitor’s motion to dismiss in AvePoint, Inc. v. Power Tools, Inc., a case which explores the limits of what is permissible when competing for business online.

It is not often that a respondent in a domain name dispute ardently opposes a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) – quite often respondents simply default, especially if they are a prolific cybersquatter with bigger domain name fish to fry.  Even less common is a respondent who claims to bear

There’s nothing more punk rock than a trademark infringement lawsuit.  Actually, there are a lot of things that are more punk rock – like flouting authority, facial piercings, and two-minute-long tracks.  But starting a federal case over the tattoo-worthy insignia of one of the original hardcore punk bands has got to be up there.