Your Face, is My Case: Personality Rights

Of all the TV attorneys out there, Jackie Chiles is my favorite. Close second, of course, is Denny Crane, but Jackie certainly takes the top prize. Jokes aside, the title of today’s post is “Your Face, is My Case,” because we’re talking about likeness and image rights, sometimes collectively referred to as “personality rights.” From … Read more

A Cut of What?

Royalties, the Net v. Gross Profit Distinction, and Dolly Parton. Part 2 Welcome back to the Dolly Parton party. Last week we picked up where we left our heroes last week – struggling with the tension between artistic collaboration and the need to delineate legal ownership.  This second installment deals with the potential subjectivity of … Read more

Will You Go Out With Me?

Unsurprisingly, I find myself often being asked to describe what “intellectual property” is.  I, all too often, find myself giving a description that is not all that helpful.  If you are asking what “intellectual property” is, then saying “intangible business assets” isn’t going to get us much closer to understanding.  One way that I have … Read more

Strong Foundations: IP webinar series

We want you to start your 2021 armed with knowledge! Strong Foundations is a presentation series to help owners of companies build their knowledge of key legal concepts and then use this knowledge to grow their companies on those strong foundations.  This first series will discuss intellectual property including trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and contracts relating to … Read more

The Least Hard Part of Brexit

Brexit has been, well, let’s say bumpy. One thing that has seen a bit less turbulence than other areas of contention is trademarks. So let’s keep our fingers crossed that what I write below remains true as it has all year. For those not regularly pursuing international trademarks, a very quick primer: When registering a … Read more

Leave the Terror Behind with an Incontestable Trademark!

With Halloween approaching there are more scary things than usual sending chills down my spine. Some of these things are fun-scary, like playing spooky pranks on friends, covering my eyes for most of a horror flick, or taking witching hour strolls through poorly lit cemeteries. Then there are things like the current economic crisis sending … Read more

Donkey Kong and King Kong Are Not the Same Ape.

If you’ve read our blog religiously, you’ll know that I often write about intellectual property and video games (or, cartoons). Well, its been awhile, and in 2020, levity is required! So, today, we’re talking about the two most famous (fictional) apes of all time – Donkey Kong & King Kong – and the epic intellectual … Read more

Ego or Economics?

Now we know that we are eligible for federal registration, and that we can afford it.  But is it important?  Is this a primary part of our business or not?  What is your return on your investment for this product?  In our pretend business, SCRUBBIEDUBS is our overall trademark, so that’s likely important.  What if … Read more