POTTY MOUTH! The New Law of Trademarks!
Matal v. Tam As I kid I knew one of the quickest ways to get into trouble was to have “a potty mouth.” A Potty Mouth? What was that – swear words, words that referred to something out of the social norm, or body parts? My parents’ definition of “Potty Mouth” changed all the time. The punishment did not – soap, a swat, or a time out…. The General Rule for the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been to deny a trademark registration...
Read MoreKNOW THE LEGAL CODE
Creative Businesses face many different challenges. Many times the owner of a small business is everything from CEO to CJC (Chief Janitor in Charge). A short time ago I was able to write an article for the Association for Creative Industries (formerly the Craft and Hobby Association) trying to help creative businesses unlock the code of many of the legal issues faced by small creative businesses today! The use of this article is solely for a one time individual use and cannot be copied or...
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BE FEARLESS! The Bull and the Girl – A Case for Collage and Derivative Works! Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com The world was abuzz on International Women’s Day in March 2017 when Kristen Visbal’s fifty inch, two-hundred-and-fifty-pound Fearless Girl stared down Arturo Di Modica’s eleven feet, seven thousand one-hundred-pound Charging Bull in Manhattan in the Wall Street District. The little girl, with her hands on her hips, seemed to signal to the world and specifically Wall Street...
Read MoreDon’t Be Fooled In April!
April is always that time of year that starts out with pranks and hopefully ends with beautiful weather here in the US. April is also a perfect time between the excitement of the Holidays and the bustle of Summer to look at your business. When I first started practicing law and setting up businesses I would always include a calendar of events and meeting minutes but tried to come up with some unique way to get businesses to REMEMBER that each year maintenance (both physical and paper) needed...
Read More2017 – The Year for Copyright Registrations
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS…STILL GOING STRONG?! Create Your Own Copyright Registration Program – It’s Not Too Late! 2017 is the Year of US Copyright Registrations! Has the sun gone down on your New Year Resolutions? Every year in the middle of December our firm receives calls from our clients PROMISING that this upcoming year is the one that they will finally embrace and keep up to date on their copyright registrations with the US Copyright Office. Then, every year, about June or July our firm...
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