Orange County Lawyer magazine published my article, How to drive your trademark attorney completely bonkers in 10 easy steps, in its May 2022 edition. The article is serialized here as follows: Step 8. Don’t create a written set of guidelines for how to use your trademarks. Then, when I try to explain that trademark license agreements give the licensor the leverage they need to ensure that their trademarks are used properly and consistently, I also explain that a good license

Orange County Lawyer magazine published my article, How to drive your trademark attorney completely bonkers in 10 easy steps, in its May 2022 edition. The article is serialized here as follows: Step 4. Never file an application to register your trademark. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard clients say, “Trademark registrations are a waste of good money. After all, U.S. trademark law allows you to enforce your trademark even if you have no active registrations on fil

Orange County Lawyer magazine published my article, How to drive your trademark attorney completely bonkers in 10 easy steps, in its May 2022 edition. The article is serialized here as follows: Last Friday, I was at my local brew pub hanging out with friends after a long week at the office. We were sharing war stories and griping to one another about how our clients, customers, and patients often refused to take the advice they were paying us to give them. “Why do they come t

In a conflict that has been marked by shockingly high casualty rates among both combatants and civilians, the war in Ukraine has added an unusual, albeit far less important, category to the list: trademarks. Responding to Western political pressure and mounting economic sanctions, Russia has decreed that Western intellectual property assets are essentially forfeited by companies that have stopped doing business in the country. The long-term impact on these and other Western b

After 77 years, ice cream kingpin Baskin-Robbins has decided it’s time for some changes. No, it’s not doing anything really oddball like adding hummus to the menu. (Yes, I’m looking at you Dunkin’.) Instead, the company has decided to tweak its logo, employee uniforms and packaging to update the brand. Along with the rebranding rollout, the company has plans to sell merchandise, including bikes and bucket hats, from a dedicated online store for the first time as well as unvei

Everyone knows that chicken nuggets just aren’t the same without a dipping sauce. And no one knows that better than McDonald’s. Recently, the fast-food chain announced Monday that it is bringing back its wildly popular Szechuan Sauce for a limited time starting March 31 and only “while supplies last.” Described as a savory and slightly sweet taste profile with hints of soy, garlic, ginger and mild vinegar, many fans of Chicken McNuggets swear by it while others swear about it

Even if, like me, you're a few years older than a preteen, I'll wager that you have played with Lego building blocks or watched a Lego-themed movie in the last year or two. And, if you live in southern California and have had preteens in the family over the last twenty years, you've almost certainly visited that Mecca for Lego brock lovers, Legoland, in Carlsbad. Well, we were recently at Legoland and put together a few thoughts on the park and the brand that spawned it in ou

As reported by Bleeding Cool and several other media outlets, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., for the uninitiated) has apparently come to its senses and decided to drop its application for registration of GUNTHER STARK as a federal trademark. The WWE had filed a registration for Austrian-born wrestler Walter Hahn who later changed his name to Walter Stark and recently began calling himself Walter Stark in (and out of) the ring. The real Gunther Stark was a well

Where creatives, producers, distributors, and fans come together in southern California. Not nearly as well-known as its cousin to the south, San Diego Comic-Con, the Los Angeles Comic Con has gone by several names during its much briefer history, including, most notably, Stan Lee's Comikaze, but LACC has many of the same offerings without all the crazy hullabaloo of 150,000+ attendees. And, of course, the intellectual property is in abundance. #LACC2021 #LosAngelesComicCon #

IP Law Minute - Red River Showdown The Red River Showdown is one of the oldest rivalries in college football. But did you know that the annual game between the Oklahoma University Sooners and the University of Texas Longhorns also involves several very valuable trademarks? Check out this installment of the popular IP Law Minute series for more. #TexasLonghorns #OUSooners #RedRiverShowdown #CottonBowl #Dallas #trademarks #intellectualproperty #IPLawyer #CaliforniaIPLaywer #Tex

On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a long-awaited decision in the contentious copyright battle between tech giants Google and Oracle that has has wound its way through the courts for more than a decade. But, in so doing, the Court baffled copyright pundits and intellectual property attorneys alike, most of whom expressed concern that the decision improperly expands the 'fair use' doctrine and may actually encourage illicit software copying. In a 6-2 decision

“I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.” ― Arthur C. Clarke April has been a very busy month for everyone especially when you consider the extraordinary, worldwide effort to get us all vaccinated (or “jabbed” as the Brits like to say) and to regain a semblance of normality in our daily lives (I’m especially looking forward to finally leaving my mask at home), but also because Ingenuity finally flew on Mars, March Madnes

Just when you thought it was impossible for the art world to get any weirder, this happens: A non-fungible token (or “NFT”) of a digital artwork just sold at Christie's auction for $69 million. Digital artwork? Non-fungible tokens? $69 million? At least the concept of paying millions of dollars for artwork has become a familiar one. As for the others … Earlier this month, Mike Winkelmann, a Charleston, SC graphic designer who goes by the adopted art world name of “Beeple," s

Exercise bike manufacturer, Peloton, has filed petitions with the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel Mad Dogg Athletics’ registrations for the SPIN and SPINNING trademarks. #Peloton #Exercise #Biking #Gym #Spin #Spinning #USPTO #TTAB #Trademarks #Branding #IntellectualProperty #IPlawyer #OCLawyer #DavidBaker

In a move that probably surprised Mrs. Potato Head, Hasbro recently announced that it was dropping the “Mr.” from the popular plastic toy Mr. Potato Head and would now market him as gender neutral. #Hasbro #MrPotatoHead #GenderFluid #Toys #Branding #Trademarks #Copyrights #IntellectualProeprty #IPLawyer #OCLawyer #DavidBaker

Luckily, there are always new developments in the IP world to keep us distracted. Whether it was street artist Banksy’s recent social commentary/graffiti caper on the walls of (former) Reading Prison in the U.K. or the sale of one of his pieces, Morons, by Injective Protocol, a cryptocurrency company, which then burned it (yes, burned it into nonexistence) while broadcasting live through a Twitter account @BurntBanksy. However, before going up in flames, Injective Protocol ha

“The artist brings something into the world that didn’t exist before, and he dos it without destroying something else.” - John Updike In all honesty, I am a bit bummed. I know 2020 is but a distant memory and 2021 promises a return to normalcy (of a sort), but it was hard to suffer the one-two blow delivered earlier this month when the organizers of the most highly anticipated popular media events on the West Coast announced that WonderCon 2021 and San Diego Comic-Con 2021 wo

For only the second time ever (2020 was the first), organizers of the Anaheim, California popular media convention WonderCon have announced that the event will once again be virtual because of ongoing pandemic concerns. #WonderCon #WonderCon2021 #WonderCon@Home #ComicBooks #PopularMedia #IntellectualProperty #IPLawyer #OCLawyer #David Baker

It has been nearly 60 years since The Jetsons cartoon arrived on American televisions, but a recent USPTO trademark application filed by Astro Biosciences has elicited a trademark opposition from Hanna Barbera Productions, the cartoon’s producer, for the trademark “Astro Dog.” What product does Astro Biosciences make? Dog treats, of course. #TheJetsons #HannaBarbera #AstroBiosciences #USPTO #trademarks #trademarklaw #intellectualproperty #intellectualpropertylaw #DavidBaker #

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a publishing company, ComicMix, LLC, was in the wrong when it published a mashup of Ted Geisel’s book (aka Dr. Seuss) Oh, the Places You’ll Go with characters from Star Trek in a Kickstarter campaign titled Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go! #trademarks #copyrights #trademarklaw #copyrightlaw #DrSeuss #StarTrek #intellectualproperty #intelletualpropertylaw #IPLawyer #DavidBaker #OCLawyer