The more things change, the more they remain the same. Or so the old adage goes. Following McDonald’s recent shuttering of its restaurants in Russia, those same restaurants have been rebranded “Vkusno & Tochka.” Translated as “Tasty and that’s it,” even the casual observer will note similarities between the new branding and the old. Whereas the original version prominently featured the familiar bright yellow letter “m,” the new version also features the letter “m” only with

Jack & Coke finally becomes a "thing." In a can. For decades, Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola have been a staple drink of choice for in bars, at sporting events, at concerts, and even at backyard barbecues. The combination of two of the most iconic drink brands in history, the pairing was made all the more popular by the ease with which it could be ordered and then made. Not everyone knows what is in a Manhattan, a Martini or even a Screwdriver. And while drinks like margaritas ha

The best way to avoid future problems with your brand is to select a strong brand from the outset. Doing so properly has the added benefit of increasing the value of your brand, especially when you properly use the trademark and enforce it against infringers. Not all words or names can be protected as trademarks. For example, no one business can claim exclusive rights in generic terms because every business owner in the same industry needs to be able to use them to identify t

No two countries that both had a McDonald’s restaurant have ever gone to war, or so a popular international business/political science theory has repeatedly claimed, but the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has put a lie to the myth. Worse still, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (or whatever euphemism Russia has been using this week) has now led to the hamburger giant’s decision to leave Russia altogether. When Russia began its incursion three months ago, international pres

After a three-week jury trial, Stone Brewing Co. won its lawsuit against MillerCoors (now Molson Coors) for trademark infringement based on the misleading marketing Molson Coors' Keystone Light used to promote it beers in 2017. The San Diego federal court case came to an end when the jury decided that Molson Coors had unlawfully used Stone’s registered STONE trademark after the company rebranded its Keystone beer as STONE and awarded Stone Brewing $56 million. Ironically, Sto

The names Nike and Hermes rarely appear in a sentence together, even when discussing fashion apparel. But the explosion in popularity of non-fungible tokens (or more simply, NFT’s) has made them strange bedfellows. Athletic shoe and apparel manufacturer Nike has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against StockX for its creation and sales of an NFT based on Nike sneakers. French luxury brand Hermes has done likewise against Mason Rothschild. The cases were filed in differe

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

Yesterday, I participated in an informative online panel discussion entitled “Big Business and The Metaverse: What Comes Next?” presented by attorney Anthony Lupo of ArentFox Schiff and featuring ‘The Godmother of The Metaverse” Cathy Hackl. Anthony is managing partner at ArentFox and hosts a series of seminars once a quarter. Cathy is CEO of Futures Intelligence Group, frequently writes on the topic of companies, branding, and the future of the Internet, and works with well

Taco Bell is 60 years old today and it looks pretty good for its age. An incalculable number of Mexican restaurants and fast-food taco stands have come and gone since 1962 when founder Glen Bell opened his first Taco Bell in Downey, California. But Bell’s story began with a hot dog stand called Bell’s Drive-In that he opened in San Bernardino, California in 1946 when he was just 23. Then, four years later he opened a hamburger stand called Bell’s Hamburgers and Hot Dogs in a

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

Today in 1935, the game Monopoly was patented by Charles Darrow, an unemployed engineer in Germantown, Pennsylvania. There was a game at the time, about 30 years old, called The Landlord's Game, which had a lot of the familiar Monopoly features like a "Go to Jail" square and utilities and properties for purchase. With his free time, Darrow modified it, basing his rental properties on his favorite resort town, Atlantic City. For more on the creation of the board game we all ha

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

“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

As reported earlier this week in The Los Angeles Times e-newsletter, the City of Placerville, located in the Gold Mining region of northern California, stirred up unexpected controversy when the city counsel voted to revise the city's logo by removing a noose hanging in a tree in the background behind a prospector panning for gold. "Anyone with even a passing knowledge of California history is familiar with the events of Jan. 24, 1848, when a man named James W. Marshall disc