Taco Tuesday Trademark
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Jun 1, 2023 in Intellectual Property
Sometimes your business does not need to register a mark to make headway in its marketing – sometimes it is more beneficial to file a Petition for Cancellation of a trademark before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). This action may help if ownership of the mark by another is getting in the way of your business being able to use it, even if you do not want to keep its usage all to […]
Continue Reading“Rick Roll” or Legitimate Lawsuit: Rick Astley Sues Rapper Yung Gravy Over Soundalike Song
Julianna Favale May 25, 2023 in Copyrights
Some may know British singer Rick Astley from his performance of 1987 hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Or from the song’s internet phenomenon resurgence in 2007, rising to one billion views on YouTube by 2021. However, in January of this year, Astley and the famed song became newsworthy once again when he sued rapper Matthew Huari, known as “Yung Gravy,” over a soundalike song – alleging that Gravy’s 2022 breakout hit “Betty (Get Money)” […]
Continue ReadingMeet Josephine Chen, the Newest Patent Agent at Marks Gray!
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney May 18, 2023 in Intellectual Property
I am excited to announce a new member of the Marks Gray team. Welcome to Josephine Chen, our newest patent agent. Although Josephine is a registered patent agent with the USPTO as of March of this year, she is not new to patent law. She was previously a patent agent in Taiwan with a medical and biotechnology focus. She often worked with physicians and universities to secure global patents for hospitals and medical centers. We […]
Continue ReadingDRI Super Conference: IP Litigation and the Good Life in New Orleans
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney May 11, 2023 in Events
New Orleans is a wonderful place to meet interesting people and experience some of the best life has to offer. On April 26- 28th, I had the great fortune to serve as the Chair of the DRI Intellectual Property Litigation Seminar in New Orleans. This happened in conjunction with the DRI Business Litigation seminar, creating one big Super Conference at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Many takeaways from the Super Conference came from our keynote […]
Continue ReadingEd Sheeran’s Win Shows Building Blocks of Music Cannot be Copyrighted
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney May 4, 2023 in Copyrights
Musical artists have always had to deal with questions of copyright. In recent years, however, many have felt a shiver up their spine from copyright issues that deal with the basic building blocks of music. That encompasses fundamentals like chord progressions, rhythmic profile, and “feel.” The case that stirred things up was the estate of Marvin Gaye winning an infringement case against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for “Blurred Lines.” It caused many artists to […]
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Trademark Infringement Case Challenges Courts to Define How the Lanham Act Applies Abroad
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Apr 27, 2023 in Intellectual Property
We have talked about the Lanham Act previously in regards to how it helps define the U.S. trademark registration system. A recent case involving a U.S. company and its European distributor brings up a specific question about the Lanham Act: does it apply to international infringement? Hetronic’s Case Our focal case involves Oklahoma-based company Hetronic, a maker of radio remote controls, and their European distributor, Abitron. If what Hetronic alleges is true, one could describe […]
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