Here is universal advice for all entities looking to create a new commercial or non-commercial brand: conduct a trademark search before launch to avoid a costly and potentially embarrassing mistake.
Trademark rights go beyond similarity of words, letters and symbols to visual, phonetic, auditory and even olfactory similarity. While a typical “knock out” search focuses [ ... ]
On November 4, 2025, Sasha Suda, the director of the Philadelphia Art Museum (the “Museum”), was removed from her position following a controversial and surprising rebranding of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The Museum’s $250,000 rebrand is presumed to be the principal reason for her removal, as its board reportedly was caught unaware when th [ ... ]
Popeye’s copyright entered the public domain on January 1, 2025, with almost immediate consequences. The horror film and derivative work “Popeye the Slayer Man” was released in 2025, bringing Popeye’s intellectual property back into the spotlight. And now Hearst Holdings, Inc., owner of the POPEYE trademark, has filed a trademark opposition to block the application of Free [ ... ]
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Trademark rights terminate if a mark is abandoned. Trademark owners are responsible for maintaining their marks, and their actions, whether voluntary or involuntary, play an important role in preserving those rights. A federal trademark application or registration may be abandoned if the owner voluntarily withdraws the application, or if the owner fails to satisfy required filing ob [ ... ]
Recently Arnie and I had the opportunity to see a performance of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Almeida Theatre in London. The acting was superb, and our (last minute) seats in the second row made for an enthralling, if not relaxing, evening as we were entirely consumed by the cruelty and desperation of the characters. The London production was set in current times but oth [ ... ]
If you practice law long enough, things come back around. I was reminded of my days representing the Directors Guild of America in its fight against the colorization of black and white movies when I read an article about the colorizing of an Ansel Adams photograph by a prominent gallery owner, who exhibited it at the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD).
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