Entries tagged “trademark law”
Rimon Partner Mark Lee’s article “The European Union’s New Copyright Directive” published in the Daily Journal
insights Mark S. Lee · March 1, 2019
Information wants to be free, but intellectual property wants to be protected. The tension between this durable cliché and fundamental principle has informed much of the political and legal debate surrounding the commercial rise of the internet over the past 25 years. This debate is presently centered in Europe, where the European Union seems poised…
Hedge Fund Advertising Law- Fundamentals and New Developments: CLE Video
Mark Diamond · January 20, 2014
On July 10, the SEC adopted a new rule lifting the ban on general solicitations and advertising for broker-dealers and for hedge fund and private equity fund offerings. This is a significant change from existing law and allows a fund to make its website more accessible to the public, to use social media, and to…
The LAST BEST PLACE That Doesn’t Need a Trademark Registration
insights May 21, 2012
Why obey federal trademark law (aka the Lanham Act) when you can just pass a new law that exempts you from it? Montana’s Senators sure are slick and I’m betting the Last Best Beef wishes it had a beef with any other State besides Montana! Instead of federally registering and enforcing its rights in Montana’s…
Sugar Companies Try to Cane Corn Association
insights February 9, 2012
This past September I wrote about a lawsuit pitting sugar against corn. Initially, two sugar manufacturers sued the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) and six high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) manufacturers for false advertising under the Lanham Act, as well as for being in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 17200 as a result of their corn sugar “re-branding” campaign. At the time I…
Apple’s Continued Attempts to Trademark “App Store” may Fall Short
insights July 8, 2011
Earlier this year in March, Amazon launched the Amazon Appstore, which was then a new avenue for buying Android apps. Almost immediately after the launch, Apple proceeded to file a trademark infringement suit against Amazon over the usage of the “Appstore” phrase. The case is contingent upon whether “app store” can be deemed a generic…
Geek in Trouble — Best Buy Believes Geeks will Get it in Trademark Infringement Dispute with Newegg
insights June 24, 2011
Being that my brand is BrandGeek®, when I saw the Wall Street Journal headline, “Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called,” I thought trouble surely was headed my way. Thankfully, I’m not pedaling electronics, nor religion via VW Beetle, so it appears I’m safe. For now. Imagine the panic when…
ICANN Approves Open Season on new gTLDs for 2013
insights June 23, 2011
On June 20, 2011, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program, first introduced in 2008. The program will greatly increase the number of gTLDs allowed for use on the internet, which is currently limited to 22 (such as .com, .org, and .net). It allows new…
Interpreting the Startup Visa Act
insights June 22, 2011
On March 14, 2011, Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar introduced a bill titled the Startup Visa Act of 2011, which is an updated version of a 2010 bill. If passed, the act would provide temporary work visas to various kinds of foreign workers if certain financial benchmarks are met. 1. For foreign entrepreneurs: (a) a…
NAD Teaches TransFair USA to fine tune Fair Trade Seals & Asks Avon to Amend Advertising
insights June 20, 2011
As discussed in my December 13, 2010 post, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) offers a streamlined, self-regulatory mechanism for remedying false advertising claims made in nationally distributed advertisements. While NAD has a 95% success rate, those advertisers who fail to follow NAD’s recommendations may find themselves before the FTC upon NAD’s recommendation. On February 16, 2011,…
The Top 5 IP Mistakes Tech Startups Make
insights June 2, 2011
It’s not easy being a technology startup. There are many challenges, including racing towards product and business development milestones, recruitment and management of employees, funding goals and restraints, fierce competition from big and small competitors, changing legal and regulatory landscapes – just to name a few. One of the costliest mistakes a startup can make…