Trademark & Copyright Law

Amazon Sues Website Owners for Paid Online Reviews

April 27, 2016 Last year, we reported on a lawsuit filed by Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”) in Washington State against the owners of four websites offering paid online reviews.  Last Friday, Amazon filed another such lawsuit against a number of similar Amazon product reviewers. Why should sellers, paid reviewers and review-hosting websites be concerned about online

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Trademark Enforcement May Lower Search Advertising Costs

April 19, 2016 A recent MediaPost article exploring the search advertising efforts of the Avery Dennison Corporation (“Avery”) observed a substantial increase in clicks – and corresponding decrease in cost per click (“CPC”) and overall search ad costs – once Avery began enforcing its trademark rights. Are your trademark enforcement practices leaving money on the

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Allegedly Infringing Ad Campaign: Trademark Claims Preempted by Copyright

March 30, 2016 Nobody puts Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.’s (“Lions Gate”) Dirty Dancing brand in a corner – except for a California federal district court and an allegedly infringing ad campaign. Why were Lions Gate’s trademark and unfair competition claims preempted by copyright?

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DraftKings, FanDuel Settle With New York Attorney General Pending Legislative Result

March 23, 2016 DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. will stop allowing New York-based consumers to participate in their online daily fantasy sports contests under two virtually identical settlements with New York state, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced March 21. Schneiderman brought enforcement actions against each company in November 2015, saying the companies were violating

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Refusal to Register Disparaging Trademarks Ruled Unconstitutional

December 24, 2015 On December 22, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down a provision of the federal Lanham Act which prohibited the registration of “disparaging” trademarks by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Specifically, the Court found parts of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act unconstitutional.

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Superman v. Superdad: Trademark Lawsuit to Continue

December 18, 2015 This Tuesday, a California federal court in Los Angeles refused to dismiss DC Comics Inc.’s (“DC”) trademark lawsuit against Mad Engine, Inc. (“Mad Engine”) in connection with the business’ humorous take on DC’s iconic Superman shield logo. Can a business use someone else’s design or logo in jest?

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