Though an office action refusing registration can be disappointing, the road doesn’t have to end there, as shown by In Re Black Card LLC, where the TTAB recently reversed the decision of an examining attorney. Black Card filed to register the trademark FOLLOW THE LEADER in several different classes, including those for credit card incentive…

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Medieval Times v. Medieval Times Performers United and the American Guild of Variety Artists is a case out of the District of New Jersey. This was a labor dispute that veered into trademark law — where management tried to use its trademark rights as a sword to nip a nascent union in the bud. The…

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Amazon v. Pionera, out of the Eastern District of California, is notable not for its legal maneuvering, but rather the elaborate scam that was at the center of the dispute.  The plaintiff, Amazon, alleged trademark infringement and cybersquatting against defendant Manoj Goel and his company, Pionera. The defense did not answer the allegations for most…

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I was a full-time musician before law school, but Standing on the Horizon is the first album as a band leader (playing tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet) consisting of my own compositions played with four extraordinary, Grammy-nominated and award-winning musicians. In early October 2023, the album was released on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora and…

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Overhead Door Company of Kansas City v. OGD Equipment Company is a trademark infringement case that began in the Northern District of Georgia, and found itself in the Eleventh Circuit on appeal.  D.H. Pace Company (“Pace”) licensed its OVERHEAD DOOR trademarks from the Overhead Door Corporation (ODC).  ODC, as licensee, sued another similarly-named company, Overhead…

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The Larson v. Perry saga essentially ended with the judge’s denying summary judgment to both sides; essentially, “a pox on both your houses.”  The background of this case was famously retold in The New York Times Magazine’s “Who is the Bad Art Friend?” I also wrote about it in “Bad Friends, Inspirations, and Betrayals” in…

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Lane Coder Photography v. Hearst Corporation is a copyright case from the Southern District of New York …which lost all its steam shortly after it began.   The case was brought by a photographer who was hired to take real estate pictures of the Connecticut home of Paul Simon and Edie Brickell. The purpose was to…

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Amazon v. Pionera, out of the Eastern District of California, is notable not for its legal maneuvering, but rather the elaborate scam that was at the center of the dispute.  The plaintiff, Amazon, alleged trademark infringement and cybersquatting against defendant Manoj Goel and his company, Pionera. The defense did not answer the allegations for most…

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A client recently asked whether they should file their trademark not only in the US, but in other countries where they manufacture or sell their products. In Abitron Austria v. Hetronic, the U.S. Supreme Court provided the answer — and also served an opinion salad.  The case began in the Western District of Oklahoma when…

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In Nealy v. Warner Chappel Music Inc., a twice-incarcerated plaintiff sued his former manager for licensing his music without authorization — all while the inmate had been serving his first sentence. Argued before the 11th Circuit, this case highlights a circuit split. The sole issue was whether the plaintiff could bring a lawsuit for copyright…

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