Alt Legal IP News – Issue # 179
Bri Van Til | March 10, 2020
Virus
– In case you have not yet heard, Alt Legal Connect is being rescheduled. We will follow up with more information as soon as we have new dates for the conference. If you’re still planning on being in New York, Sonia Lakhany is hosting a workshop. It’s free if you registered for Alt Legal Connect.
– The Chinese Trademark Office is cracking down on confusing and “malicious” trademarks related to the coronavirus.
– Since the outbreak of COVID-19, apparently there has been a surge in pirated downloads of the film Contagion.
– Coronavirus is not the only virus threatening legal practices.
Shhh… It’s a Secret
– The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department, and the FBI are charging Huawei with trade secret theft.
– A California man is suing the founder of Uber for $1 billion for trade secret theft because he alleges that he conceptualized the ride-sharing software.
– As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, many businesses are asking employees to work remotely; however, how can those businesses protect their trade secrets when their employees are off-site?
– How should a company protect its trade secrets? Here are a few suggestions.
Restaurant Industry
– Restaurant chain Great NH Restaurants is suing GrubHub and Doordash for trademark infringement because the food delivery services list the restaurants’ menus and use their logos.
– When the owner of a tiny Persian restaurant housed inside a New York pizzeria was ousted by the pizzeria’s new owner, he didn’t expect the owner to open a different Persian restaurant with a similar name in the same space.
– Rovio, the developers of Angry Birds, have filed a suit against restaurant chain Angry Birdz Chicken for trademark infringement. It’s unclear if the restaurant uses slingshots to deliver the chicken to customers, but bonus points if they do.
Professional Concerns
– Both The University of Kansas and The Ohio State University have openings for assistant general counsel.
– EA wants a senior trademark specialist.
– Facebook and JPMorgan Chase are both in search of IP counsel.
– Gibbons P.C. needs a docketing administrator.
– Have an open role on your team? Send a link to your job listing to community@altlegal.com, and we’ll publish it in our next newsletter.
Odds and Ends
– NYU Law School posted a video about copyright law only to have it removed from YouTube for copyright infringement.
– Daren Tang is set to be the new director general of WIPO.
– Update: The battle over camouflage prints has been settled.
– The trademark for Four Seasons is available for purchase. Let’s go in on it together: I’ll get spring and fall, and you can get summer and winter.