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

“But he who dares not grasp the thorn. Should never crave the rose.” ― Anne Bronte Did you watch the Big Game? Kinda boring, wasn’t it? Even the commercials and halftime show seemed flat to me. Maybe it was the small COVID crowd or the fact that we were still under quarantine in California, but it just didn’t feel the same. Likewise, the end of the College football season didn’t seem the same either. Other than Alabama winning the National Championship, of course. That seems

Quaker Oats is releasing a new name and logo for its "Aunt Jemima" products, finally retiring the racist stereotype that has adorned its pancake mixes and syrups for decades. The “new” brand name, Pearl Milling Company, is actually the name of the 19th century business that created the original ready-made pancake mix which became famous under the soon-to-be retired moniker. #AuntJemima #QuakerOats #branding #trademarks #intellectualproperty #intellectualpropertylaw #DavidBake

Evermore Park, a small amusement park in Utah, has filed suit against Taylor Swift and her management company alleging that the naming of her most recent album Evermore (and the sale of related merchandise) constitutes trademark infringement. Why an obscure amusement park would complain of being linked to an international recording star remains unclear. #Evermore #EvermorePark #TaylorSwift #trademarks #copyrights #intellectualproperty #FederalCourt #USPTO #intellectualpropert

So, the first week of January really happened, didn’t it? And, if you were paying attention to the unrelenting media coverage from our nation’s capital, you probably noticed several of your fellow citizens sporting stylish t-shirts, baseball caps, and even morale patches (those Velcro® backed symbols originally used by the military) with a stylized skull on them as they helped themselves to unguided tours of the Capital Building. In this month’s IP Update, we explain where th

Capping the weird 2020-2021 NCAA football season, the Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24 in the College Football National Championship Game last month. The Championship was played at the Orange Bowl venue, but the Orange Bowl® football game had already been played nine days earlier between Texas A&M and North Carolina. Adding to the confusion, Alabama had already played in the Rose Bowl® football game on January 1, beating Notre Dame 31 to 14, but that ga

"In the long-run, every government is the exact symbol of its people, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government." - Thomas Carlyle So, the first week of January really happened, didn’t it? And, if you were paying attention to the unrelenting media coverage from our nation’s capital, you probably noticed several of your fellow citizens sporting stylish t-shirts, baseball caps, and even morale patches (those Velcro® backed symbols originally us

Social media users have called on Marvel (and its parent company Walt Disney Co.) to “retire” the iconic skull logo of fictional character Frank Castle (aka The Punisher) after images depicting the recent takeover of the U.S. Capital Building showed several people wearing the popular logo on t-shirts. #trademarks #trademarklaw #intellectualproperty #intellectualpropertylaw #IPLawyer

Last month, the CASE Act was signed into law by President Trump as part of the massive 5,593-page, $1.4-trillion omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief bill, titled the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Originally, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (“CASE”) Act was introduced in 2019 to establish a copyright small claims system that allows copyright creators to take action against infringers on a smaller scale than filing lawsuits in federal court. Supp

Despite having to deal with Covid-19 challenges in 2020, U.S. business will now have to contend with another challenge, higher trademark registration fees in 2021. The USPTO has announced increased fees of as much as $150 beginning January 2, 2021. If you hurry, you still have a few days to file in 2020. #USPTO #trademarks #trademarkfees #intellectualproperty #DavidBaker #IPLawyer #OCLawyer #BusinessLawyer #IPUpdate

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx How long does a trademark last? It lasts as long as it serves the purpose of identifying the source of goods or services. And this is no less true for a popular cartoon character that debuted in 1962. The Jetsons is an animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera that originally aired in primetime on American television from 1962–1963. It featured a space age family of the same