Band Not Banned: High Court Finds Unconstitutional Trademark Office’s Basis for Refusal to Register THE SLANTS Trademark
On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. __ (2017), issuing a ruling that clarifies that the door is open to trademark registration to a new category of trademarks: trademarks that may disparage others. The facts that the Court looked at are relatively simple:
Writers Engaged in “Additional Capacities” – Article 14 Basics
WGA writers, particularly as they advance in their careers, often end up engaged in both their capacity as writers as well as in an additional non-writing capacity, such as executive producers. Article 14 of the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) is therefore an important provision to understand for both writers and anyone engaging them; it
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Elliot v. Google, Inc. (9th Cir. May 16, 2017): Internet Search Giant Dodges Grammar-Based Genericide of Its Ubiquitous Trademark
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled this month that Google’s trademark has not lapsed into the public domain by becoming generic even though today’s digital vernacular uses “google” as a verb synonymous with searching the Internet. As a general rule, generic terms used as trademarks are not protectable
Chambers USA 2017 Ranks Partners Lackman and Wolff as Top IP Attorneys; Recognizes Two Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP (CDAS) Practice Groups
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is proud to announce that partners Eleanor M. Lackman and Nancy E. Wolff and both CDAS’s Entertainment and IP, Copyright and Litigation Practices have been recognized by Chambers and Partners in the Chambers USA 2017: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business guide. This is the fourth consecutive year Ms. Lackman
“Marijuanaville” Mark Goes Up In Smoke: Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Empire Riding High After TTAB Throws Out “Marijuanaville” Trademark Application
Enterprising corporations looking to join the “green rush” and cash in on the marijuana boom have found a loophole in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) refusal to register trademarks for products that contain cannabis. By registering a trademark for ancillary products not related to marijuana, such as clothing or accessories, corporations can
Law360 – DMCA 2.0: A Potential Shift In Safe Harbor Jurisprudence
Law360 – May 19, 2017, 1:00 PM EDT The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 is almost 20 years old, and while the statute hasn’t evolved, the internet has, and with it — albeit at a slower pace — the common law interpreting the DMCA. The scope and applicability of the “safe harbor” provision of
Client Alert: Copyright Office Amends DMCA Designated Agent Rule – May 10, 2017
Earlier today, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a new release of its electronic system used to designate and search for Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) agents. Under the DMCA, a qualified online service provider (OSP) is not liable for copyright infringement with respect to infringing material residing on the OSP’s network if, upon notification of
WGA and AMPTP Reach Agreement on New Collective Bargaining Agreement, Avoid Writers’ Strike
On May 2nd, The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached an eleventh-hour agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that averts a pending strike by the writers that was scheduled to begin that day. The agreement was announced in a joint statement by
Partner Aileen Atkins Named to Variety’s “2017 Women’s Impact Report”
Aileen Atkins, partner and co-head of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams and Sheppard LLP’s (CDAS) Corporate Entertainment Practice is featured in Variety’s “2017 Women’s Impact Report.” Aileen is recognized for her work handling a range of digital and tech clients at CDAS – where four of seven equity partners are women — and for her in-house general
Ninth Circuit Ruling Raises New Legal Risks for Websites That Use Moderators to Screen User-Submitted Content (Mavrix Photographs v. LiveJournal)
On April 7, in a decision with far-reaching implications for websites that allow users to post content, the Ninth Circuit reopened a paparazzi photo agency’s copyright lawsuit against the social media website LiveJournal. In doing so, the court reversed a lower court ruling in LiveJournal’s favor. The photo agency, Mavrix Photographs, sued LiveJournal over twenty