Alt Legal IP News – Issue #244
Bri Van Til | June 16, 2021
The Blogosphere
LexBlog founder Kevin O’Keefe asks whether free legal blogging training should be available to anyone who wants it and considers whether traditional legal publishers “too entrapped in their dogmas” to understand legal blogging.
Blogs have been around for decades now, and the medium has changed substantially. Come to Carolyn Elefant’s Alt Legal Connect session to learn how to use it effectively. Use the code “newsletter” for a discount.
Here are some suggestions for creating content your clients actually want to read. For other advice from Stefanie Marrone, check out this past recorded webinar.
Yes We Canada!
How do Canadian trademarks differ from those in the United States? Join us for this webinar in September to find out!
If you manage any Canadian trademarks, Quebec’s proposed signage requirements may need your attention.
This author argues that merely protecting Canadian IP is less significant than making money from it.
Last month, CIPO added dozens of cannabis- and marijuana-related terms to their Goods and Services Manual, effectively pre-approving them.
In response to extended wait times for trademark applications, CIPO is accepting expedition requests in certain cases.
Litigation Initiation
Said a judge to the jury in a patent infringement case: pick a royalty, any royalty.
New York’s new legislation protecting right of publicity was recently expanded to include post-mortem protection, including against “pornographic deep fakes.”
The first NFT litigation suit has been filed, and techies and lawyers alike are eager to see what happens.
How can you succeed with TTAB filings? And when should you bypass TTAB and bring suit in district court? Join us for this Alt Legal Connect session where Knobbe Martens litigator Jonathan Menkes will answer these questions and more.
Apparently when you’re unable to serve someone via mail or in-person delivery, sending a patent ITC claim via message to their Amazon seller account may count.
Professional Concerns
If you think it’s Exactly Right for you to be a production lawyer for this podcast network, make sure to apply!
Honeymoon over with your current job? Consider serving as associate corporate attorney for Newly Weds Foods.
Ready to apply as counsel for this cable network? It’s Showtime!
If you have the energy to apply as assistant general counsel for this electricity company Spark up a conversation with them!
Ocean Spray—which is a cranberry company, not a waterpark ride—is looking for corporate counsel.
Have you seen the newest model of the Human Rights Watch? It gives you points every time you stop an injustice. Okay, that’s not really a thing. But it’d be kind of cool, right? Anyway, Human Rights Watch is an organization, and they’re looking for general counsel.
I wonder how many free things you’d take home every day working as counsel for Swag Up.
Go Rogue and apply to be counsel at this brewery. If that’s what they want you to do, though, would you still be going rogue by doing it?
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
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a PTAB ruling, effectively saying, “Nuh uh, that invention wasn’t obvious! You’re obvious!”
Recent backlashes against culturally appropriating trademarks and trademark applications suggest caution is warranted. Better yet: maybe just don’t try to stake a claim on the identity of another group of people.
In case you’re curious: if you co-own a trademark with someone else, you shouldn’t try to register the same mark in another class on your own; it makes the mark void ab initio.
WTR argues that someone needs to work to educate the public about trademark-related scams, so let’s all spread the word about them!
If you missed our fantastic panel about wine trademarks last week (or you just want to watch it again because it was that great), check out the recording here.