Trademark & Copyright Law

Perspectives and Legal Developments in Trademarks, Copyrights, Domain Disputes, Unfair Competition and More.

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Upcoming Event: Boston Trademark Roundtable with the USPTO (September 17, 2019)

August 20, 2019

The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Foley Hoag are pleased to invite you to an open roundtable discussion with USPTO officials Meryl Hershkowitz (Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Operations, United States Patent and Trademark Office) and Larry Stanley (Interlocutory Attorney, Trademark Trial and…

Trademark & Copyright Law

In Defense of Ohio State’s Application to Register THE as a Trademark

By Jenevieve Maerker

August 15, 2019

The picture you see is of a shirt from my husband’s closet – a gift I gave him a few years ago. He is a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and this is sort of an inside joke for OSU…

Trademark & Copyright Law

Watch: IP and Advertising Basics for Cannabis Companies

By Foley Hoag

July 29, 2019

Business is booming for cannabis ventures, but the legal landscape for related intellectual property protection and product advertising is rife with complications that demand special consideration, and companies should be paying attention to these issues out of the gate.
Foley…

Trademark & Copyright Law

Supreme Court to Decide Whether Trademark Owner Must Prove Willful Infringement to Obtain an Infringer’s Profits

By Peter Sullivan

July 1, 2019

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), trademark holder who proves infringement may receive as damages an award of profits “subject to the principles of equity.” This phrase has divided the circuit courts going back several decades, with six circuits requiring a

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Trademark & Copyright Law

Son of Tam: Supreme Court Strikes Down Lanham Act Section 2(a) For “Immoral” and “Scandalous” Marks

By Peter Sullivan

June 28, 2019

In our prior blog entries here, here, here, here, here and here, we followed the course of Matal v. Tam, the case involving the mark “THE SLANTS.” In that case, the Supreme Court struck down

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Trademark & Copyright Law

EU Parliament Approves New Copyright Rules for the Internet

By Catherine Muyl

March 29, 2019

We had been following on this blog the heated debates around the proposed EU Copyright Directive. These debates now belong to history since on March 27, 2019, the European parliament adopted the Directive with 348 votes against 274 and 36…

Trademark & Copyright Law

Watch: IP Licensing Pitfalls for the Generalist In-House Counsel

By Foley Hoag

March 18, 2019

Intellectual property licenses can be important in various situations ranging from large scale strategic transactions and IP litigation to day-to-day lower profile transactions. Even the latter can have far-reaching impact on a company’s proprietary assets, particularly if certain IP-related concerns

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Trademark & Copyright Law

IP and Social Networks: The Paris District Court Invalidates IP Clauses of Google+ Terms of Use

By Catherine Muyl

March 12, 2019

It’s been rough weather for Google in France. Three weeks after the French ‎Data Protection Authority imposed a record fine against Google for non-compliance with the GDPR, the Paris District Court (“Tribunal de Grande Instance”) invalidated 38 clauses of

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Trademark & Copyright Law

Supreme Court: Copyright Owners Must Wait For Registration Certificate Before Suing

By David Kluft

March 4, 2019

On March 4, 2019, the United States Supreme Court held that, with certain exceptions, a copyright owner must obtain a copyright registration certificate from the Copyright Office before filing a copyright infringement suit. The unanimous opinion in Fourth Estate Public

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Trademark & Copyright Law

BIG MAC Trademark Not That Big in the EU: How McDonald’s Failed to Prove Genuine Use of its EU Trademark

By Catherine Muyl

February 11, 2019

On January 11, 2019, the Cancellation Division of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) rendered a surprising decision that revoked in its entirety the McDonald’s Company’s BIG MAC trademark registration, which had been registered in the EU since December

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