2025

Here’s What Happened: Anthropic PBC wanted to create an AI assistant named “Claude” to compete with other chatbots like ChatGPT. Anthropic wanted Claude to be a step above other chatbots by basing its training on well curated facts, well organized analyses and captivating fictional narratives. Like other chatbots, Anthropic had to find works for training […]

Here’s What Happened: In 1917, as part of the US’ WWI recruitment effort, James Montgomery designed the “Uncle Sam Wants You” character. With his long white hair and US flag inspired garb, Uncle Sam has become a symbol of US patriotism. A German sporting goods retailer, Uncle Sam GmbH, applied for an International Registration, designating […]

Here’s What Happened: Denice Halicki, widow of Gone in 60 Seconds creator H.B. Halicki, sued Carroll Shelby Licensing and others for allegedly infringing her claimed copyright in Eleanor, the car. In many of the Gone in 60 Seconds movies, a car named Eleanor would appear. In the original 1974 film, Eleanor was a customized 1971 Ford Mustang […]

Here’s What Happened: In the 1976 San Francisco Pride Parade, a group of LGBTQ+ women rode motorcycles. Over the years, more and more women bike riders showed up at the annual parade. In the late 1980s, a number of women riders created a group known Women’s Motorcycle Contingent. The group’s community grew with opening a […]

Here’s What Happened: In 2008, Heritage Alliance started publishing an online voter guide using the trademarks “iVoterGuide” and “iVoterGuide.com” (the “VoterGuide Marks”). Heritage Alliance did not seek federal registration of its VoterGuide Marks. In 2010, American Policy Roundtable created an online publication for political campaign information using the trademarks “IVOTERS” and “IVOTERS.COM” (the “Voters Marks”).  […]

Here’s What Happened: Justin Pethick worked for DeWolff, Boberg & Associates (DBA), a consulting company. Justin left DBA to work for a competitor, Randall Powers Company (Powers), and some potential clients of DBA hired Powers instead. DBA sued Justin and Powers for trade secret misappropriation. DBA claimed that Justin and Powers used DBA’s trade secrets […]

Here’s What Happened: In October 2024, high school student, Francesca Mani, found out that boys in her class used artificial intelligence (AI) software to fabricate sexually explicit images of Francesca and some of her female classmates. These images are called “deepfakes”. For some of us, high school has long been in our rearview window. But […]

Here’s What Happened: Healthier Choices Management Corp is a grocery and vape store chain. Healthier Choices applied to patent its own electronic vaping pipe. Philip Morris also had a line of electronic vaping pipes. In an interparty proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Philip Morris challenged Healthier Choices’ patent. The Board agreed with […]

Here’s What Happened: Bucky Woodall wrote a screenplay titled “Bucky the Wave Warrior”. It was about a modern day teenager who wants to learn about the ocean and surfing. Bucky gave the script to his sister-in-law’s stepsister who worked for Disney Company in the live action division. The stepsister inquired if Disney accepted unsolicited scripts […]