I ♡ Trademarks NewsletterIssue #462
Bri Van Til | January 06, 2026
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New Year. Who Dis?
Betty Boop, Nancy Drew, “Georgia on my Mind,” The Little Engine that Could, and more have all entered the public domain.
You’ve heard about 2025’s most important trademark cases, but here’s an overview of the patent cases.
“Copyright infringement cases regarding AI” is definitely on my Bingo card for 2026.
Here’s a nice list of some features and updates we released last year, as well as some to look forward to soon.
You can find some of our top blog posts from 2025 here.
Appeal to Reason
The Federal Circuit has reversed the TTAB’s refusal to register KAHWA for coffee shops. TTAB had refused the registration as descriptive or generic because KAHWA is a transliteration of coffee in Arabic. But since the registration is allowed now, I guess the meaning got lost in transliteration.
Tattoo artist Kat Von D’s reference to a photograph of Miles Davis was fair use, according to the Ninth Circuit. “So what?” you ask. I could write a book about how important the ruling is; it’s a real milestone. Some think the case indicates the Court may replace its substantial similarity test.
The Ninth Circuit says Top Gun: Maverick didn’t infringe the copyrights of the author whose article the ’80s film was loosely based on. Believing it did would be a highway to the danger zone.
One Battle After Another
Apple Cinemas is unrelated to the tech company, the latter of which is upset about the theater chain’s move to the Bay Area.
After receiving a restraining order and a cease and desist from Led Zeppelin, an Indonesian t-shirt seller was dazed and confused. So he got on the internet to ask hey, hey, what can I do? The answer? Take down your listing, and you’re probably fine. ‘Cause, like, you’re far away. Unless you’re going to California. Or something.
This transcendental meditation school is suing its former student. Zen what are they going to do?
The bitterness between the NRA and the NRA Foundation is really apparent in this lawsuit for trademark infringement and dilution. They even brought out the big guns: images of the latter’s merch for sale.
Tesla may face an uphill battle trying to register CYBERCAB.
Professional Concerns
If you make a wish for this general counsel position, make sure to Credit Genie if you get the gig.
Juneau there’s an opening at SEAlaska for a VP of legal policy?
As long as the STARZ align, you should be able to get this senior counsel position.
Unsure which senior AI counsel position to take? Choose the Capital One.
This IP lead position at Honda might provide an element that’s missing from your current job. So go apply on your own accord.
Have an open role on your team? Email us at [email protected], and we’ll try to get it in our next newsletter!
Odds and Ends
South Korea’s Supreme Court last week heard a case about whether upcycled Louis Vuitton bags infringe the designer’s trademarks.
This ruling out of the SDNY included analysis of whether publishing instructions not to crawl a website equated to “technological measures that effectively control access” to copyrighted works, thus protecting content under the DMCA. The answer was nope.
At the end of last year, the USPTO issued its millionth electronic patent grant.