Trademark law protects brand identifiers like names, logos, words, slogans, and other things, ensuring consumers aren’t deceived about the source of a product or service. It also protects businesses from unfair competition. Core concepts include use in commerce, distinctiveness and
Latest from Cokato Copyright Attorney: The Law Blog of Thomas James - Page 2
Enduring (Non-AI) Legal Issues
With so much attention being given to the legal issues that AI-powered technologies are generating, it can be easy to overlook or underestimate the importance of long-standing legal issues having nothing to do with artificial intelligence. While it would be
Last Exit From Paradise
The United States Supreme Court has put an end to Stephen Thaler’s crusade for machine rights. Okay, that’s the sensational news article way of putting it. He wasn’t really crusading for machine rights. He was trying to establish a precedent
Trump’s Executive Order on AI
On December 11, 2025, President Trump issued another Executive Order. This one is intended to promote “national dominance” in “a race with adversaries for supremacy.” To “win,” the Order says, AI companies should not be encumbered by state regulation.
Smelly Trademarks
If it smells like a trademark and it functions like a trademark, it might be a trademark.
Rose-Scented Tires
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has successfully applied for the registration of an olfactory trademark in India. It is the smell of
Excuse Me While I KIST the Sky
Sunkist is a trademark of Sunkist, Inc. This image is used for illustrative purposes only. No endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation with any company, product or brand is intended or implied.
The Jimi Hendrix song, “Purple Haze” contains one
Voice Cloning
Painting of Nipper by Francis Barraud (1898-99); subsequently used as a trademark with “HIs Master’s Voice.”
Lehrman v. Lovo, Inc.
On July 10, 2025, the federal district court for the Southern District of New York issued an Order granting in
Court Rules AI Training is Fair Use
Just days after the first major fair use ruling in a generative-AI case, a second court has determined that using copyrighted works to train AI is fair use. Kadrey et al. v. Meta Platforms, No. 3:23-cv-03417-VC (N.D. Cal. June
AI OK; Piracy Not: Bartz v. Anthropic
A federal judge has issued a landmark fair use decision in a generative-AI copyright infringement lawsuit.
In a previous blog post, I wrote about the fair use decision in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS. As I explained there, that
The Copyright Discovery Rule Stands
Last year, the United States Supreme Court held that as long as a claim is timely filed, damages may be recovered for any loss or injury, including losses incurred more than three years before the claim is filed (Warner