IP BLAWG

In Brief:  The identification of goods and services in a trademark application isn’t as easy as it might look. Here’s What Happened: First, a little background. The USPTO offers two types of applications. TEAS Plus allows an applicant to pay a lower fee ($250.00) but the identification of services has to be taken directly from […]

In Brief: An inventor can’t claim their invention is invalid after an assignment. Here’s What Happened: Csaba Truckai was one of the named inventors of a device used to treat vaginal bleeding. He and his fellow inventors founded a company called NovaCept, Inc. Csaba and his fellow inventors applied for a patent and then assigned […]

In Brief: Can a banana with duct tape infringe on the copyright of a banana and an orange with duct tape? Here’s What Happened: Joe Morford, created a work that consisted of a banana and an orange duct taped to a green background with masking tape added around the edges of the background. He published […]

In Brief:  To mark the conclusion of Black History Month 2023, we celebrate the remarkable Miriam Benjamin. Here’s What Happened: Miriam Benjamin (1861 – 1947) was an inventor, teacher, composer, and is credited with being the first female African-American patent attorney. Miriam attended Howard University’s medical school and “read the law” to become an attorney. […]

In Brief:  The use of a word for an expressive work is not trademark infringement. Here’s What Happened: Punchbowl Inc. is an online party and event planning service website, PUNCHBOWL, which creates invitations and greeting cards. AJ Press, LLC owns and operates PUNCHBOWL NEWS, a subscription-based online news publication that provides articles, podcasts, and videos […]

In Brief:  The USPTO refused to register “Assholes Live Forever” as a trademark.  Here’s What Happened: Kirill’s Big Brain, LLC operates the Linda Feingold website(https://www.lindafinegold.com/) which specializes in merchandise that displays such slogans as “Drug Money”, “All I Need is Sex, Booze & Weed” and “Walk of Shame Bag”. By far, its most prevalent merchandise […]

In Brief:   Hermes stopped an artist from using its Birkin bags in NFTs. Here’s What Happened: Hermès International and Hermès of Paris, Inc. sell luxury (i.e. expensive) Birkin handbags that range in price from $12,000 to $200,000. Around December 2021, Mason Rothschild created digital images of faux-fur-covered versions of the Birkin handbags that he titled […]

In Brief:  Each year, a new crop of creative works go into the public domain. This year, works created from 1927 go into the public domain. The class motto is “The Best Things in Life are Free”. Here’s What Happened: Here’s a non-exclusive list of the Class of 2023: Literary Works: · Virginia Woolf, To […]