I ♡ Trademarks NewsletterIssue #413
Bri Van Til | December 10, 2024
Vintage Logos
Weeks after winning their trademark infringement suit against Vintage Brand, Penn State is seeking an injunction to bar future infringement and to award them attorney fees.
Here’s a breakdown of why the case seemingly about old, now defunct logos matters.
An octogenarian who claims to have designed the Jets’ recently readopted logo is trying to obtain copyright protection for the design.
On the Lighter Side
Cheeto parent company Frito Lay auctioned on eBay a Cheeto duct taped to a wall, an obvious reference to Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian. The cheese puff sold for $20k, a fragment of the value of Cattelan’s banana (which sold for over $6m).
I’m sure you’ve sent your share of Cease and Desist letters, but have you ever sent a Continue and Persist letter? I love this so much!
This humorously titled and themed article addresses the genuine difficulty of using licensing to standardize technologies. Too bad they didn’t call the article FRANDs with benefits.
Down Under
This webinar about trademarks in Australia and New Zealand will be chockers with knowledge. Sign up for it, mate.
The longstanding battle between American singer Katy Perry and Australian designer Katie Perry has ended with the former triumphing. The designer’s trademarks have been canceled as a result.
There was a plan to make a movie about Raygun, the poor infamous Australian break dancer who was teased mercilessly after her performance at the Olympics. But her lawyers have put a stop to the project. I say give the woman a break.
Professional Concerns
Harley Davidson—don’t you pity Harley for having no other identity than being David’s son?—is looking for a brand protection lead.
If you take this job at Apple as director of complementary IP litigation, will you sue people for being too awesome of a trademark lawyer? You could write Continue and Persist letters! Oh wait. That would be complimentary IP litigation. I like my idea better. Where do I get that job?!
Whether you just started your job search or you’ve Benz looking for a long time, consider this associate counsel position.
The New York Times, they are a changin’ their senior counsel. Or, more likely, they’re just looking to add someone, specifically to advise about generative AI.
Have an open role on your team? Send a link to your job listing to [email protected], and we’ll publish it in our next newsletter.
Odds and Ends
Gas station chain Buc-ee’s is suing a Kansas City liquor store, Duckees, for trademark infringement. As far as I know, though, Duckees does not advertise their services for hundreds of miles, so they at least have that difference.
Did you know George Washington Carver patented a method for creating blue paint? An artist has recently used his technique to great effect.
Don’t miss out on our most registered for webinar ever: Thursday’s recap of the biggest (and TOO SMALL-est) trademark issues of the year. If these Jeopardy! contestants had attended, they’d have gotten the correct answer to Final Jeopardy! That’s right: attending Alt Legal webinars not only teaches you great strategies and helps you obtain CLE credit, but it also can help you win boucoup bucks!
Drake has filed a pre-action petition against Universal Music and Spotify, alleging that the companies used bots and manipulated data to over-exaggerate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track.