Trademarks, and the rights of trademark holders, are commonly misunderstood. Many business owners want to know, what are the advantages of federally registering a mark? A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design (or a combination of those things) that identifies and distinguishes the source of certain goods or services. Essentially, a trademark is
Donald Sterling has been in the news non-stop for the last few weeks and it seems that won’t be changing anytime soon. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday June 3rd will bring together the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) Board of Governors for a vote to determine if Sterling will retain his control of the Los Angeles
It doesn’t matter when you were born or what kind of music you usually listen to: chances are you’ve heard Led Zeppelin’s classic, Stairway to Heaven. The song has earned over half a billion in sales and helped Led Zeppelin IV become one of the highest selling albums of all time. With such a long
On March 31, 2014, in Buffalo, New York State Supreme Court Justice, Russell P. Buscaglia ruled that Christa Mary Clark could keep her engagement ring after her fiancé Louis J. Billittier, Jr. called off the wedding via text message. The court held that the ring was a gift based on a pair of break-up texts:
Last month, Facebook reached a $2 billion deal to buy Oculus VR, a company dedicated to developing virtual reality devices. Before the big buyout, Oculus made a name for itself as one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever; it raised over $2.4 million with the help of more than 9,500 backers. Many of Oculus’s
On March 14, 2014, a federal court in New York City ruled that streaming internet radio service Pandora will pay ASCAP, a performance rights organization (“PRO”), a rate of 1.85% of Pandora’s total revenues through 2015 in exchange for access to ASCAP’s catalog of songs. PROs and song owners aren’t happy with the decision. Some
One month after the Washington, D.C. federal appeals court struck down FCC net neutrality rules, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has announced that the Commission will not appeal the decision. Following the Verizon v. FCC ruling, companies are feeling the immediate impact of Internet providers restricting the flow of their online information. While the FCC gears
Just last week, Comcast announced its plan to purchase Time Warner Cable. Upon completion of the $45 billion takeover, Comcast would control roughly 30% of American cable subscribers, making it the dominant television and Internet services provider in the U.S. The merger’s supporters and opponents are already arguing over whether the deal will be good
Although Ralph Lauren’s U.S. Olympic Team sweaters might be on the medal stand for ugliest of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, they probably won’t be the most litigious apparel of the Games. On February 4, 2014, the Canadian Olympic Committee (“COC”) filed a lawsuit in British Columbia against the parent of popular outdoor company The
Even 60 years after his death, iconic movie star James Dean remains a celebrated public presence. Now, a lawsuit brought by Dean’s estate against microblogging multinational Twitter has brought Dean’s claim to fame back into the spotlight. CMG Worldwide is the Indiana-based company managing James Dean’s estate and commanding $3 to 5 million annually in
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