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The 99 Year Dilution Dilemma: What’s the Harm if No Confusion?

By Gregory (Greg) J. Krabacher on Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Branding, Case Studies, Copyright, Europe, Trademarks, United States
The Theory of Dilution Crosses the Pond By Gregory J. Krabacher, Epstein Becker Green. The origin story for the cause of action of “dilution” in the United States begins with Frank Schechter’s 1927 Harvard Law Review article, Rational Basis of Trademark Protection. [i]  Indeed the U.S. Supreme Court credits Mr. Schechter’s work as the “seminal … Continue Reading

Strategic intellectual property considerations for artificial intelligence technologies: How “non-tech”companies could be missing hidden IP goldmines

By Malisheia Douglas of McDonald Hopkins on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Protection & Enforcement, Trademarks, United States
Malisheia Douglas Companies outside traditional tech sectors may be sitting on IP goldmines without realizing it. Manufacturing, e-commerce, and consumer products businesses routinely use AI technologies from predictive maintenance to automated pricing. These technologies represent valuable intellectual property assets. While these companies may not self-identify as “tech companies” in the Silicon Valley sense, their AI … Continue Reading

Privacy New Year’s Resolutions 

By Gary A. Kibel of Davis+Gilbert LLP and Jeremy Merkel of Davis+Gilbert on Posted in Privacy Compliance, United States
Authors: Gary Kibel of Davis+Gilbert and Jeremy Merkel of Davis+Gilbert   The Bottom Line  The new year might mean the same to you, but for businesses, the turn of the calendar once again means a new set of privacy compliance obligations. 2026 brings new requirements in California, which has the most comprehensive regulatory framework and a stand-alone privacy regulatory … Continue Reading

Little At Sea Over Legacy Trademarks:  

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Branding, Copyright, Europe, United Kingdom, United States
Commodore, What Can You Learn From Drifters?   By James P. Flynn, Epstein Becker Green  Trademark lawyers eventually learn a hard truth: brands often do not die; instead, they drift.  Sometimes they drift quietly into nostalgia. Sometimes they drift into the hands of the entrepreneurial and well-advised. Other times, they drift along unattended.  Of course, sometimes, they drift straight into court.  Few issues in intellectual property law reveal the fault lines … Continue Reading

The recent expansion of patent elegibility for AI inventions before the USPTO

By James Muraff of McDonald Hopkins and Michael Centa of McDonald Hopkins on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Branding, Case Studies, Copyright, Patent Infringement, Patents, United States
Introduction The new United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John A. Squires was sworn in on September 22, 2025 and wasted no time that week in expanding patent eligibility for AI related inventions. In particular, the new Director presided over the September 26 Appeals Review Panel (ARP) decision in Ex parte Desjardins, Appeal 2024-000567. … Continue Reading

The DuPont Factors for Trademark Registration

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Copyright, Trademarks, United States
By: Daniel H. Bliss Suppose you have filed a trademark application to register a trademark that identifies a source of goods/services for your business. During examination of the trademark application, the United States Patent and Trademark Office initially refused registration because of an alleged likelihood of confusion with a registered mark. What are the DuPont … Continue Reading

Navigating the New Frontier: The Rise of U.S. Trade Secret Litigation in a Globalized Economy 

By Steve Hanle of Stradling Law, Jason Anderson of Stradling Law and Ahmad Takouche of Stradling Law on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Branding, Copyright, Legislation, Patents, Privacy Compliance, Protection & Enforcement, Trade Secret Protection, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, United States
For many lawyers practicing outside the United States, intellectual property protection and risk are most often associated with patents, trademarks and copyrights. Trade secrets are frequently treated as the forgotten stepchild—associated with employment law and contracts rather than as an independent body of law. But since the passage of the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act … Continue Reading

Searching for Civility in U.S. Trademarks  

By Gregory (Greg) J. Krabacher on Posted in Branding, Copyright, Legislation, Trademarks, United States
After more than a hundred years of settled U.S. trademark policy, an interesting problem has developed for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). How to square the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions striking down parts of the federal Lanham Act with the USPTO’s historical rejection of immoral, scandalous, or disparaging trademarks?  Whether by … Continue Reading

New SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract Is Now in Effect 

By Samantha G. Rothaus of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Jordan Thompson of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Howard Weingrad of Davis+Gilbert LLP and James L. Johnston of Davis+Gilbert LLP on Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Artificial Intelligence, Branding, Counterfeit Goods, Legislation, Online Content, Privacy Compliance, United States
Authors: James Johnston, Samantha G. Rothaus, Jordan M. Thompson and Howard R. Weingrad.  SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) have reached agreement on a new Commercials Contract, which is now officially in effect. Notably, the deal was reached without a strike — a rare outcome in recent entertainment-related collective bargaining where disputes, particularly over … Continue Reading

Can Non-English Language Trademarks Be Refused Registration Based on the Foreign Equivalents Doctrine?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Branding, Copyright, Europe, Foreign Protection, Trademarks, United States
By Dan Bliss of Howard & Howard Suppose that you want to register your trademark that is in a non-English language on goods or services for your business in the United States. Will your non-English language trademark need to be translated to English to determine its registrability? If so, can your English translation trademark be … Continue Reading

The Rise of Class Actions in Influencer Marketing: What Brands Need to Know To Protect Themselves 

By Paavana L. Kumar of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Jordan Thompson of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Amy Marcus of Davis + Gilbert and Allison Fitzpatrick of Davis+Gilbert LLP on Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Branding, Copyright, Counterfeit Goods, Online Content, United States
Authors: Allison Fitzpatrick, Paavana Kumar, Jordan Thompson and Amy Marcus.  Class actions targeting prominent brands using influencers to advertise their products on social media are on the rise, accusing brands and their influencers of failing to properly disclose paid endorsements.  A series of recent cases targeting brands and their influencers rely on a similar set … Continue Reading

Uber’s Opposition Fails the Grade in Tutors Trade Mark Dispute

By Jessica Bell of Kalus Kenny Intelex and David Cinque on Posted in Australia, Branding, Copyright, Protection & Enforcement, Trademarks, United States
Jessica Bell – Lawyer, Kalus Kenny Intelex, Melbourne Australia David Cinque – Special Counsel, Kalus Kenny Intelex The Australian Trade Marks Office has permitted the registration of the trade mark UBER TUTORS after finding that transport and delivery giant, Uber Technologies Inc (Uber Tech) failed to oppose the mark’s registration under the Trade Marks Act … Continue Reading

Different Kinds Of Cool That Still Just Don’t Register: Why Birkenstocks & Melted Rink Ice (AKA Water) Aren’t Copyrightable

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Advertising & Marketing, Branding, Copyright, Europe, Trademarks, United States
By James P. Flynn, Epstein Becker Green In 2015, the Wall Street Journal observed why Birkenstock sandals might be considered cool: “It’s a taboo thing,” said New York-based stylist Brian Coats, who dresses Jimmy Fallon. “The fact that Birkenstocks are so uncool makes them cool.” The unstylish stereotype tied to Birkenstocks, said Mr. Coats, has … Continue Reading

Charting a Course on AI Policy: the U.S. Copyright Office Speaks! 

By Gregory (Greg) J. Krabacher on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Legislation, Privacy Compliance, Protection & Enforcement, Trademarks, United States
By Gregory J. Krabacher, Epstein Becker Green  Recently, the U.S. Copyright Office published the second of an intended three-part report entitled “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.” Here are those three parts:   Collectively, this report – I’ll refer to it here as the “AI Report” –  is intended to provide the Copyright Office’s perspective on fundamental questions … Continue Reading

Katy v Katie: The importance of reputation and early brand protection  

By Jessica Bell of Kalus Kenny Intelex on Posted in Australia, Legislation, Trademarks, United States
By Jessica Bell, Lawyer – Kalus Kenny Intelex, Melbourne, Australia Pop star Katy Perry has successfully appealed a Federal Court ruling over the use of an Australian designer’s trade mark registration for the words KATIE PERRY. The recent decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court unanimously overturned Justice Brigitte Markovic’s findings in Taylor … Continue Reading

New Year’s Resolutions?: Intellectual Property Questions That May–Or May Not–Get Decided In 2025

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Legislation, Online Content, Protection & Enforcement, United States
As we head into a new year after a US election year, we are sure to see two things in the media, all kinds of articles on New Year’s Resolutions and all kinds of articles on what we can anticipate occurring in the inaugural year of the new administration.  So I thought that I would … Continue Reading

THAT’S NOT TRUE: Thoughts, Novel or Not, On Truth, Context, & Defamation

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Case Studies, Protection & Enforcement, United States
Defamation cases are hard ones in the real world. Recent US matters involving Dominion Voting,  Sara Palin, and even Cheetos show that these cases continue to interest the general public as well as legal cognoscenti. Resolving these lawsuits is dependent on understanding concepts of truth, accuracy, fact, opinion, and all manner of issues that define … Continue Reading

Can Design Patents Be Invalidated?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Legislation, Patent Infringement, Patents, United States
Suppose you have a design for an ornamental appearance of an article and start producing the article. Subsequently, you receive notice from an owner of a design patent that you are infringing their patent. You conduct a prior art search and find some references related to the design. Can you invalidate the design patent through … Continue Reading

One Sheet To Rap Sheet: Evaluating Proposed Federal Rule For Using Lyrics & Creative Writing To Prove Crimes

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Legislation, Protection & Enforcement, United States
In a list of Music Industry Terms Every Artist Should Know, “One Sheet” is defined as a “single-page document that highlights an artist’s new music and summarizes their bio, stats, and achievements. It’s given to media, promoters, or anyone else who can further the artist’s career in some way — for example, by hiring them … Continue Reading

Can a Slide Show Be Considered a Printed Publication to Prevent Patentability?

By Daniel H. Bliss of Howard & Howard on Posted in Case Studies, Legislation, Patent Infringement, Patents, Privacy Compliance, Protection & Enforcement, United States
Suppose you have an invention and disclose it in a slide show to an audience attending a conference. Can this slide show be considered a printed publication to prevent the invention from being novel and patented? Are there protective measures that can be taken to prevent the slide show from being considered a printed publication? … Continue Reading

Seedlings of Ideas For Artificial Intelligence: Learning From A Genetic Resources/Traditional Knowledge Treaty, The Plant Patent Act, & Nico Tanner

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Foreign Protection, Legislation, Patents, Protection & Enforcement, Trade Secrets, United States
The World Intellectual Property Organization announced on May 24, 2024, a treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge that was twenty-five years in the making.  As WIPO’s press release noted, “[n]egotiations for this Treaty began at WIPO in 2001, initiated in 1999 with a proposal by Colombia, where discussions were notable for … Continue Reading

IP ├ IP???: The Logic Of Election Year Legal Disputes Over Proprietary Intangibles

By James P. Flynn of Epstein Becker Green on Posted in Copyright, Legislation, Privacy Compliance, Trade Secret Protection, Trademarks, United States
Title? Typo? Cryptic code? Equation? Really it is a combination of three of the four. In other words, it is not a typo (You can look elsewhere in this piece for those). One key to understanding the reference above is the mathematical logic symbol ├, which is known as the “’turnstile’…because of its resemblance to a … Continue Reading

U.S. House Unveils the Latest Attempt at a U.S. Privacy Law: The American Privacy Rights Act

By Gary A. Kibel of Davis+Gilbert LLP, Richard Eisert of Davis+Gilbert and Zachary Klein of Davis+Gilbert on Posted in Legislation, Privacy Compliance, United States
The United States is among the minority of large economies in the world without a comprehensive national privacy law. In the absence of such a law, numerous states are filling the void with a complex assortment of often inconsistent privacy laws. However, unexpected legislative developments in the U.S. House of Representatives will potentially resolve the … Continue Reading
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