By Donna Ruscitti on NBA star Kawhi Leonard debuted his new signature shoe during the 2020 NBA All-Star game on Feb. 16 in Chicago. The shoe from New Balance noticeably does not include the so-called “KL2” or “Klaw” logo because of Leonard’s ongoing legal dispute with Nike, Inc. Rick Mescher explained Leonard’s lawsuit filed against Nike regarding that logo … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On July 17, 2019, Nike, Inc. (Nike) filed its Answer and Counter Claims in response to the complaint previously filed by Kawhi Leonard, now of the Los Angeles Clippers. Read about the complaint in our previous post, Kawhi Leonard v. Nike Inc.: How copyrights can trump trademarks? In its Answer, Nike asks for a declaration that … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, May 3, 2019, in the midst of the NBA finals, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors filed a lawsuit against Nike, Inc. (Nike) in the US District Court Southern District of California. The complaint asks the Court for a declaration that Kawhi is the sole author of the “KL2” logo, that his use … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers valuable IP-related business resources through an intellectual property (IP) attaché program. The program is structured to generally improve IP policies, laws and regulations abroad for the benefit of U.S. businesses and stakeholders, while providing country-specific IP-related materials and services to teach and inform. However, the program … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On July 1, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began a 3-year pilot program known as The PCT Collaborative Search and Examination Pilot (CS&E) Program, to streamline examination and search procedures for patent examiners in multiple countries. The program is a coordinated effort with patent offices from around the world, together known … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court released a decision in a high profile trademark case rejecting the Lanham Act’s rule against disparaging trademarks as being facially invalid and unconstitutional. The Lanham Act, since its enactment in 1946, has contained a provision stating that a trademark should not be refused registration on the principal … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Nearly 50 miles south of San Diego in Mexico lies an eleven room hotel which is currently making waves for its name, Hotel California, which is also the name of the Eagles classic single and album. The boutique hotel was originally named Hotel California at its 1950 opening but has since undergone several name changes. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on It’s the month of March, and most of us are highly aware of the NCAA’s basketball tournament that dramatically decreases work productivity and determines the college basketball national champion. If you’re thinking about entering the hype and using any of the NCAA’s trademarks in your promotions and marketing this month, it’s important to consider your … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The new gTLD program, considered to be one of the most important Internet developments in recent years, continues to gain momentum since ICANN delegated its first new gTLD back in October 2013. ICANN has delegated more than 600 new gTLDs to date. Of those delegated strings, 365 are open to the general public. A little … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on President Barack Obama has called on the U.S. Congress to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba and normalize trade relations. French President François Hollande recently urged the same of the U.S., saying there is growing interest in doing business with Cuba. When the embargo is lifted, U.S. companies should be prepared to enter the Cuban … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In February 2015, I wrote a comment about Katy Perry’s ineffective attempt to assert copyright to stop a 3D printer from selling figurines similar to a shark costume used in her Super Bowl XLIX halftime show. In an attempt to establish rights in various expressions of that shark, Perry (Killer Queen, LLC) filed U.S. trademark … Continue Reading
By Holly Kozlowski on If manufacturing or selling goods in China is part of your current or future business strategy, it is not too early to ensure protection of your intellectual property in China. On May 8, Porter Wright is holding half-day seminar titled Strategies for protecting IP rights in China to discuss U.S. businesses’ experiences as they enter the Chinese … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In trademark infringement litigation, the critical and usually pivotal issue is whether there is a likelihood of confusion between two allegedly similar marks. Eliminating a defendant’s ability to defend against an allegation of likelihood of confusion can be tantamount to establishing liability against the defendant. Yet, that will be the situation for many defendants following … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on ICANN has made it possible to serve up every brand owner’s worst nightmare; welcome to [yourbrand].sucks. ICANN and registries of new gTLDs have painted a rosy picture of the new Internet landscape, advocating that the introduction of new top level domains, like .app and .restaurant is a way to increase choice and competition. Unfortunately, the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Internet was in a tizzy back in 2011 when ICM Registry began selling .xxx domain names for use by adult entertainment providers, selling nearly 250,000 addresses and netting more than $50 million. Just last year the registry sold sex.xxx for $3 million dollars, the highest price paid for a non-dot-com address. Which leads us … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The U.S. Supreme Court created some wake by issuing their first substantive trademark ruling in more than a decade this week. The Supreme Court decided to hear a case on appeal from the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Hana Fin., Inc. v. Hana Bank, 735 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir. 2013) cert granted, 134 S. Ct. 2842 … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on ICANN has been making a final push this December after a couple sluggish months and has delegated 40 gTLDs since our last gTLD update. Those newly delegated gTLDs are: .docs .tires .dev .schwarz .iwc .osaka .sew .garden .lidl .doosan .sky .cartier .samsung .商店 (shop) .adult .porn .trust .eurovision .fashion .latrobe .irish .网店 (webstore) .aquarelle .memorial … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In late 2015 or early 2016, significant changes will occur in Canada under the Canadian Trade-Marks Act. Entities holding a Canadian trademark registration that has a renewal date close to this time period will face issues regarding the renewal term period and potential fee increases. Under the current provisions of the Canadian Trade-Marks Act, registrations … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Early in December 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. At issue are inconsistencies by the 12 regional federal courts appeal in giving preclusive effect in trademark infringement cases to a denial by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of an application to register a … Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on Back in the 1960’s, legendary bluesman Muddy Waters wrote a song called “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had.” Now, it is Sony Pictures that is singing the blues, as damages continue to mount following the cyber attack on its data networks just before Thanksgiving. A shadowy group with possible connections to the North … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names continues to be sluggish in delegating new gTLDs this month, delegating no new gTLDs since our last post. But ICANN has made a dent this year in the 1,930 gTLD applications submitted, delegating 432 new gTLDs to date. Of those 1,930 applications, 1,157 are proceeding through the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on ICANN has given 34 gTLDs the green light to launch since our last gTLD update. Only 14 new gTLDs were launched in the month of October, and only 21 were delegated in total for the month of September. These numbers are strikingly low compared with the rapid-fire delegation the Internet community witnessed through the summer. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Twenty-three new gTLDs have been delegated since our last post. The following gTLDs have been cleared for takeoff: .network .企业 (Chinese for “enterprise”) .business .otsuka .gbiz .gmail .pizza .immo .esq .prod .here .youtube .meme .eat .rsvp .mov .new .ing .frl .day .dad .boo .gmx .pharmacy .wme Delegation is the green light for new gTLDs to … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on There’s exciting news in the world of cryptocurrency, the exchange medium that uses cryptography to secure the transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin, created in 2009, was the first cryptocurrency and remains the most popular, though numerous other cryptocurrencies, such as Coinye, have emerged in the interim. Where can you find cryptocurrency? … Continue Reading
