Businesses often want to have a trademark that describes what they’re selling, but in order to be protectable, a trademark must be “distinctive.” This means it must be used to identify the source of the product or service. Courts classify marks into categories of distinctiveness. The most distinctive marks are those that are arbitrary or fanciful. Examples include EXXON for [...]
Just as COVID-19 lockdowns were beginning, Netflix released the wildly successful Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness television series. The documentary, often described as a “train wreck,” is about big-cat owners Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, and Doc Antle, focusing on the events leading up to Joe Exotic’s conviction for paying a hitman to murder Carole Baskin. During the lockdowns, tattoo-shop [...]
A Canadian judge recently ruled that a farmer's thumbs-up emoji constituted approval of a contract a grain buyer had drafted, signed, and texted to him. The grain buyer’s message said, “Please confirm flax contract.” The farmer replied with the thumbs-up emoji, but never delivered the grain. Although the farmer argued that his thumbs-up emoji indicated only that he had received [...]
The state of California has long prohibited noncompete agreements in the employment context. It defines noncompete agreements broadly, and even nonsolicitation clauses are unenforceable. In other words, under California law, employees are not only free to directly compete with their previous employers immediately after termination of employment, but they can also directly solicit the customers they worked with in their [...]
Last month, in Thaler v. Perlmutter, the District of D.C. reiterated that the US copyright laws protect only works created by humans. The plaintiff, Stephen Thaler, owns a computer system called the “Creativity Machine.” He sought to register the copyright in a work of art generated by the machine. On the application, he listed the Creativity Machine as the author [...]
This summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued updates to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. It also updated its practical business guidance, FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking. While the general idea hasn’t changed - endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser – the revised guidelines provide [...]
Earlier this year, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the refusal of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to register a mark because of the “close similarity” between the applied-for mark and a previously registered mark. Charger Ventures applied to register the SPARK LIVING mark for use in connection with the leasing, listing, and management [...]
Federal AI in the Employment Context Last May, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued nonbinding guidance on how federal anti-discrimination laws may apply to employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI). Among other things, this guidance suggests that employers assess whether the AI tools they plan to use in connection with making decisions about hiring, promoting, terminating, and the [...]
Serving on a jury is one of the most important civic duties one can perform. The summons and selection process, however, is often shrouded in mystery because it can be rare to receive a jury summons, and, many times, someone who receives a summons is never selected to serve. Scammers are taking advantage of this lack of familiarity with the [...]
Did you know that your failure to retain all relevant materials after litigation is “reasonably anticipated” could result in you being fined or sanctioned by the court? You may even lose the case as a result of failure to preserve evidence. In one cautionary example, a federal court imposed a $10,000 fine on defendants who failed to preserve relevant text [...]
