The phrase “likelihood of confusion” is commonly used by examining attorneys at the USPTO to refuse a trademark application. It is also a phrase I often use when advising clients who are in the process of selecting a trademark for their new business or product line. ...
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney
Fair Use: Copyright Issues at the Heart of “Bad Art Friend”
If you follow national literary circles - or Twitter - you may have heard of the back-and-forth between writers Dawn Dorland and Sonya Larson. Dorland wrote a personal message on Facebook; Larson incorporated it as a letter into a short story, The Kindest. We will...
The Overlap Between Copyrights and Trademarks
Is your trademark a work of art? Original and independently created? Your trademarks may be eligible for copyright registration in addition to trademark registration. Why would you obtain both copyright and trademark registrations? Broader protection. A work of art is...
Tiny Houses, Big Infringement
This post serves as a two-way warning, to photographers online and to online publications that use copyrighted photos. Tiny House Listings LLC, a company whose founder is based in Wilmington, NC, faces a copyright infringement complaint for use of a Texas...
Dolly Parton Faces Opposition from Dolly Madison in Trademark Classification
One would think that Dolly Parton can have whatever trademark registration she likes. The singer’s multi-decades career almost guarantees recognition by a majority of the US population -- if not the world. However, a current dispute between the singer and Dolly...
Fighting For the Teardrop: Hershey Threatens Trademark Infringement
Hershey Co. has threatened a trademark infringement lawsuit against a California keto-cookie brand known as The Cookie Department. The alleged infringement stems from a shape that most of us know (and some of us love), the iconic teardrop shape of a chocolate chip. As...
Termination Rights: Are Original Marvel Illustrators and Writers Entitled to a Piece of Disney’s Profits?
Currently, Disney faces multiple termination of copyright notices filed on behalf of five comic writers and artists of the original Marvel Comics. The artists (or their heirs) claim that they played pivotal development roles in creating characters like Spider-Man and...
One Trademark Scammer Caught! Many More To Go
Trademark scammers abound in the marketplace. Their aim: to defraud legitimate trademark owners who have taken the time to register their trademarks with the USPTO. I have warned clients and potential clients for years about these scams. Recently, one scammer was...