Fans watching the FIFA World Cup in the United States may be surprised to discover that familiar venues like Hard Rock Stadium and Lumen Field have undergone temporary name changes to more generic designations like “Miami Stadium” and “Seattle Stadium.”
The reason lies in FIFA's longstanding “clean venue” rules. To protect the exclusivity of its official spon [ ... ]
On the final episode of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert discussed recent copyright enforcement efforts by Lee Mendelson Film Productions (“Mendelson”), owner of the musical catalog associated with the Peanuts franchise. During the segment, Colbert's band began playing the familiar work “Linus and Lucy,” prompting the host to feign alarm that CBS might now face liability for [ ... ]
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 [ ... ]
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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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