This posting is about the recently filed trademark case Weight Watchers International Inc. v. Nestle U.S.A. Inc., 09-07964, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). MY DISCLAIMER — I have not read the complaint. Instead, I saw Joel Rosenblatt’s article in the news section on the e INTA LinkedIn Group. Joel’s article states…

A few weeks ago, I attended the Social Media for Sustainability conference hosted by Justmeans. I met Joey and Stacie Shepp there and Joey told me about their project, Open Brands. Open Brands uses Twitter to follow and measure the real life conversations that consumers are having about brands. Open Brands is able to do this through the use of “brand…

On Thursday, June 4, 2009 the USPTO reduced its goal for “trademark pendency” to two months. “TM Pendency” determines how large of an inventory of unprocessed applications the USPTO should keep at any given time. The time frame discussed in relation to pendency is the time that it takes the PTO to issue a First…

On Thursday, June 4, 2009 the USPTO reduced its goal for “trademark pendency” to two months. “TM Pendency” determines how large of an inventory of unprocessed applications the USPTO should keep at any given time. The time frame discussed in relation to pendency is the time that it takes the PTO to issue a First…

What does the General Counsel of a Fortune 100 company want from a law firm?  In the case of one former GC – Theodore Banks of Kraft Foods – the answer is printed in black and white.  The ABA’s 2004 publication, “Marketing Success Stories” edited by Weishar and Smiley begins with an essay by Mr.…

Forming an LLC or a corporation is an important first step to achieving tax benefits and protection from liability.  In order to preserve these important benefits, however,  it is very important that your company is maintained properly. Otherwise, you run the risk that the separate nature of your company will be ignored by the IRS…

I am in Denver, Colorado for the 7th Annual (yet my first) BALLE Conference. BALLE is the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. BALLE’s Mission is to build Local Living Economies in North America that foster vibrant communities, a healthy natural environment, and prosperity for all. This is done through: Catalyzing, strengthening, and connecting networks of…

Who would have thought that two museums would be battling out for the right to use THE COLD WAR MUSEUM? Although the Cold War ended in 1991, two museums currently are warring over who gets to use the term COLD WAR MUSEUM as their service mark. The Cold War Museum endeavors to maintain a historically accurate record…

Investors and analysts complain that it is difficult to compare the financial positions of two entities with similar leases because financial statements often do not clearly show the effects of operating leases.  They claim that tenants under operating leases get a source of unrecognized financing. A 2005 Security and Exchange Commission report criticized the accounting…

An LLC can be treated as an S-Corporation for tax purposes if it makes an S-Corporation election as long as the entity meets the IRS criteria to be taxed as an S-Corp, files an S-Corp election and gets approved by the IRS to be taxed as an S-Corporation. Without an S-Corporation election, single member LLCs…