On September 1, 2020 the Centers for Disease Control implemented a nationwide moratorium on residential evictions until December 31, 2020 (“CDC Eviction Moratorium“). Under the Moratorium, Landlords are prohibited from taking any action to evict a residential tenant for non-payment of rent. While the order does not extinguish a tenant’s responsibility to pay rent, it does provide tenants with the ability to avoid eviction while arranging payment. Additionally, the moratorium does not stop…

This is a short post because the point is simple: If you choose to do business with individuals who do not like to run their business with written agreements, good governance, and sound policies – its to your detriment. We’ve written countless times about the need for all businesses to treat themselves “like a business” from day one. Truthfully, there is no magic time when your business suddenly becomes “real” and therefore needs all the…

If you’ve read our blog religiously, you’ll know that I often write about intellectual property and video games (or, cartoons). Well, its been awhile, and in 2020, levity is required! So, today, we’re talking about the two most famous (fictional) apes of all time – Donkey Kong & King Kong – and the epic intellectual property battle between them. The year was 1982, and the arcade business was booming. In 1981 alone, arcades were a…

Guess what often increases in the fourth quarter of every year? Buying and selling of businesses. Guess what else can increase during a recession? Yup, buying and selling of businesses. The first trend is not a surprise. You can close at the end of the calendar year, which is also the end of many a company’s fiscal year. But in a recession? Yup, we see a trend here too. Because some companies do really well…

Things have been pretty exciting in trademark law over the last few years. The Slants won a case in the Supreme Court to protect their band’s name – overturning a longtime precedent of the USPTO barring trademark protection for “disparaging terms.” Now, the Supreme Court is at it again – ruling against the USPTO and their (somewhat) blanket rule of barring registration of generic terms with “.com” (or another TLD) added to them.…

Here we are. We know our company has value and so does the trademark.  That means I often look at it through a final set of lenses.  Those are succinctly put: Offense Defense Increase value Other third party considerations (a/k/a Amazon told me to) Offense:  Are we wanting to swat down people trying to pretend they are us? Those darned SCRUBBIEDUB imposters begone!  If yes, that means we are going to take proactive measures to…