I ♡ Trademarks Newsletter Issue #342
Bri Van Til | June 20, 2023
The USPTO
Unsurprisingly, the USPTO says to be careful about buying registered trademarks from auctions.
If you see a bogus specimen, here are some things you can do about it.
The USPTO uncovered a vulnerability that allowed unauthorized users to see trademark applicants’ domicile addresses. They say the problem has now been fixed, but if you’d like to learn about how to protect clients’ identities, watch this recorded webinar from a few months ago.
This page on the USPTO’s website is dedicated to highlighting recent scams and providing information about how to combat them.
Jenn Eric Mark
The battle about TACO TUESDAY should remind all trademark owners and attorneys about the threat that is genericide.
The Fourth Circuit says that while Le Gruyère is a region in Switzerland, gruyere is a generic term for a type of cheese. They just wanted to Swiss things up, I guess.
In honor of Pride Month, here’s a quick way to remind everyone not to be generic.
Learn how to protect marks from falling victim to genericide: check out the recording of this fantastic session from Alt Legal Connect a few years back.
Byte-Sized Questions
Is generative AI like Chat GPT and Stable Diffusion “a minefield for copyright law“?
Read all about last month’s congressional hearing about AI and copyright law.
The EU Commission is working on laws to restrict AI’s use and require companies to disclose AI-generated content.
Argentinian marketplace Mercado Libre is using AI to identify counterfeits on its site.
The State Department is looking for some AI to write its contracts.
Professional Concerns
Maybe your long and windy career path is leading you to be an IP attorney at this mystery law firm in Chicago.
Schedule time to look into this job as associate advocacy and political law general counsel at Planned Parenthood.
The next DocuSign could make you the legal director of this tech company.
TMBTQ—I’d like to buy a vowel, please, Pat!—is looking for a trademark attorney.
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
A group of 17 music publishers are suing Twitter for “direct, vicarious and contributory copyright infringement” for failing to take down infringing material quickly.
If you missed our webinar last week about how Alt Legal Trademark Protection—our cost-effective monitoring service—can help grow your firm’s revenue, check out the recording here.
This issue of Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries focuses on trademark infringement. Ruh Roh!