Alt Legal IP News – Issue #10
Hannah Samendinger | October 25, 2016
You can now subscribe to our podcast, Alt Trademarks, on iTunes. This episode featured Andrea Evans, who discussed STEM and using social media to enhance your practice.
Emoji Takeover
– Emojis are making their way into the courtroom. They were actually used in the well-known copyright case of the dancing baby back in 2010.
– Over 100 patent applications mention emojis.
– But are emojis protected by copyright? By trademark?
– A game developer is attempting to block the upcoming emoji movie on the grounds that he owns trademarks using the word emoji.
Caffeine in many forms
– With a coffee shop on every corner, it is not surprising that there are many coffee-related trademarks and patents. Some patent highlights include a method for decaffeination, adevice for coffee prep from 1918, a spill proof creamer attachment, a temperature indicating cup, and a process for canning coffee.
– Would you like your coffee beans coated in nicotine? How about consuming your coffee in the form of a chewy stick?
– One coffee giant familiar with IP litigation is Starbucks. Recently they fought back against Frappuccino inspired bongs. They also were involved in the establishment of Ethiopia’s Coffee Trademark and Licensing Initiative.
– Bodum tried to restrict others from using their french press design, but their trade dress claim didn’t hold up.
Lookin’ Good
– Apple just received a new patent…. for a flower pot.
– The High Court of Bombay dismissed a trademark claim brought by Vogue magazine, finding “Vogue” to be descriptive.
– Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its a cosmetic patent.
Odds and Ends
– From 1977-1992, Hillary Clinton worked as an IP attorney. IP Frontline reviewed the decisions for which she was counsel to get a glimpse into how she may handle IP policy.
– The USPTO has been collecting some creepy IP to celebrate Halloween. Check out the gallery here.
– Our CEO, Nehal Madhani, outlined how to take the work out of your workflow through process mapping in an article for Attorney at Work.
– The US Commerce Department released a report showing that IP intensive jobs contribute 45.5 million jobs and $6.6 trillion to the US economy. You can view the whole report here.
– Last week we included a story about a man running a City of Atlanta parody account on Facebook. He heard that the city wanted him to stop using their trademark, but he won’t do so unless they meet his demands.