2016

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Difficulties Surround Marijuana Trademarks

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. There has been a growing movement throughout the United States to legalize marijuana. This of course is being led by the states, not the Federal Government. And, regardless of what side of the issue you are on, the marijuana business no longer is predominately behind-the-scenes and conducted on street corners. Since the first state legalized the use of medical marijuana (California, via the Compassionate Use Act of 1996), the production and sale of marijuana increasingly h

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A Bigger Exception to the Rule? Attorneys’ Fee Awards in Trademark Cases

Shades of Gray

Traditionally, attorneys’ fees were notoriously difficult for a prevailing party to recover in a trademark action. The United States Supreme Court’s 2014 opinion in a patent case, Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. , [1] relaxed the applicable standard in construing the Patent Act’s identical fee-shifting provision and will likely result in a lower bar to the recovery of fees in trademark disputes.

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Adidas Fights for Its Three Stripes

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. Last week Adidas formally challenged world renowned soccer club FC Barcelona’s attempt at registering its three vertical red stripe design (three vertical red stripes with a blue background) that is part of the team’s crest. Adidas asserted that FC Barcelona’s design is confusingly similar in appearance and commercial impression to its well-known, often-enforced “three-stripe trademark.

Designs 52
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Another Patent Decision, Another Day in Court for Apple

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. On September 30, 2016, a federal jury in Texas ordered Apple to pay $302 million in damages to VirnetX for violating two of its patents, including patented software used in Apple’s FaceTime and iMessage applications. There is a lengthy and complicated history of litigation between VirnetX and Apple, which commenced in 2010 when VirnetX first filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in the Eastern District of Texas.

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Software Composition Analysis: The New Armor for Your Cybersecurity

Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

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A Trademark for a Yellow Box?

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. General Mills recently filed an appeal after losing its bid to register a trademark for its yellow cereal boxes. In September 2015, General Mills filed an application with the USPTO for a mark which simply consisted of a yellow box, with typical rectangular cereal box dimensions. General Mills was unsuccessful in proving that it had substantial exclusive use of the color yellow for a specific type of goods, which in this case is Cheerios brand cereal.

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Is Your Trademark Politically Correct and Does that Matter?

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. In 2014, the USPTO stripped the Washington Redskins of trademark protection for six of its registered trademarks as offensive and disparaging of Native Americans. Since that time, the NFL franchise has been fighting to get the USPTO’s decision reversed on appeal. Presently, the case is pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

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Trademark Incontestability

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. Trademark Incontestability What Is An Incontestable Trademark and What Are The Benefits? An incontestable trademark is protected from challenge. Trademarks are a frequent target and often a subject of dispute. In addition to choosing a mark that is strong and unique, over time you can also acquire the extra benefit and advantage of incontestability for your trademark.

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Shades of GrayerNext Stop: IP Domination

Shades of Gray

We are pleased to announce the formation of Shades of Gray Law Group, P.C., a boutique law firm focusing on intellectual property and commercial prosecution, litigation, and counseling, with a particular emphasis on copyrights and trademarks. Please visit our website at www.shadesofgray.law. The post <strong>Shades of Grayer<br/><font size=4px>Next Stop: IP Domination</font></strong> appeared first on Shades of Gray.

IP 40
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Monkey Business at the Ninth CircuitThe Monkey Selfie Strikes Back

Shades of Gray

I previously blogged about my favorite copyright dispute of all time, the infamous Monkey Selfie, here and here. As a quick refresher, British photographer David Slater traveled to Indonesia to photograph macaque monkeys. He left his camera unattended on the jungle floor, where a monkey grabbed it and took a series of handsome selfies, including this one.

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Is Joe a ‘Trader’ or a ‘Pirate’? – A Cross-Border Trademark Battle

Greenspoon Marder LLP

By: Sharon Urias, Esq. Are Trader Joe’s products so sought-after that you are willing to pay a 30% – 40% mark-up for those goods? Well, if you live in Vancouver, Canada, that is exactly what you are doing when you purchase Trader Joe’s products from Pirate Joe’s. Pirate Joe’s is a Canadian-based company that purchases Trader Joe’s products in the United States and then brings them into Canada, re-selling the goods at a significant mark-up in Vancouver.

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IPO Diversity in Innovation Toolkit

Women and diverse employees have the technical skill and knowledge, yet their contributions are not patented at the same rate as those of their male counterparts.This toolkit can help organizations move the needle on achieving gender parity in innovation.