Alt Legal IP News – Issue #98
Hannah Samendinger | July 24, 2018
Go for a Drive
– A Swiss artist is suing GM for featuring his mural in social media ads.
– A former Apple employee has been charged with theft of trade secrets after allegedly copying more than 40GB of intellectual property onto his wife’s laptop.
– The NLRB issued a memo regarding the legality of Lyft’s employee intellectual property policy.
Stranger Than Fiction
– Elon Musk and an artist have resolved their copyright dispute over an image of a farting unicorn.
– Amazon’s “dwarf-tossing robot patent” is not sitting well with the Little People of America organization.
– “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should,” especially when that thing is issuing a judgment in a comic sans style font.
– Ed Sheeran is currently involved in a lawsuit over alleged infringement of “Let’s Get It On.” The lawsuit is much weirder than you may think.
For Your Inner Child
– America’s most popular toy is being counterfeited, and the toymaker wants to find out who is responsible. The toymaker and journalists’ search for the culprit has been incredibly difficult.
– It is shark week! Here is a brief history of this shark celebration and some shark protection patents.
– At Comic Con, the new Shazam! movie had some fans confused over the lead character’s name, which is fair given the character’s confusing history, name change, and a copyright lawsuit.
Odds and Ends
– A Philly snackfood has led to a good bit of legal drama.
– TTAB recently held that great-grandson of Guccio Gucci may not register his Umberto Gucci marks due to a likelihood of confusion.
– The Copyright Office rejected General Mills’ attempt to register Larabar packaging, citing a lack of creativity.
– The UKIPO released their plans for protecting EU trademarks post-Brexit.