I ♡ Trademarks NewsletterIssue #501
Bri Van Til | October 27, 2026
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Settle Down
89 Blocks Holdings, a company that arranges sports tournaments for college athletes, applied for a trademark for PLAYERS ERA but was opposed by New Era, a hat manufacturing company, that flipped its lid over the likelihood of confusion. The two have settled their dispute, though, so the application can proceed.
Mankind pharma company and Caremankind hospital, both in India, have agreed to settle their trademark dispute after the latter agreed to change its name. You might say the concession was a giant leap for Mankind.
Nike and 7-Eleven appear to have settled their trademark dispute. Hopefully it was convenient for both of them.
A Sour Note
Elvis Presley’s estate is all shook up over Anthropic’s alleged use of the musician’s catalog to train Claude.
The Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders take issue with outfits worn during a performance by My Chemical Romance. I really wanted to get a kick out of photos of the middle-aged all-male band trying to rock the famously skimpy cheerleading outfits, but sadly it wasn’t the band themselves.
One of Eminem’s former employees has pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement for selling unreleased Eminem recordings. I know it’s really shady, but is it still the real Shady?
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash’s life rights have been sold at auction to pay his debts. For the record, he’s objecting to the sale.
Competing Claims
In a case about advertising using a competitor’s name as a keyword, the 11th Circuit says that diverting a consumer’s attention away from a competitor and confusing them about the source of a product aren’t the same thing. Maybe the keyword isn’t the key word after all.
Tanzania recently passed the Fair Competition (Abuse of Dominant Position) Regulations, which seek to especially clarify what larger competitors can do in the marketplace.
What does the Lanham Act have to say about competitors’ claims in advertising? Also find a detailed explanation in this session recording.
Professional Concerns
I hope your bosses don’t Pikachu while you apply for this senior counsel position at Pokémon. If they do, you gotta catch ’em all and Ash ’em to stop so you can apply in peace.
This listing for senior trademark counsel is likely the Apple of your eye.
I’m sure I could think of 57 reasons why this senior legal counsel position at Kraft Heinz would be a good fit for you, but you’d probably call me saucy if I listed them all out.
Let me give you some Sage advice: apply for this senior product and technology counsel gig. Apply or don’t, but I’m not even parsley to blame if you don’t love your job.
There’s an opening for a merkenadviseur in the Netherlands. Knijff said.
Have an open role on your team? Email us at [email protected], and we’ll try to get it in our next newsletter!
Odds & Ends
If you missed the TMAE Summit last week, I’m sad for you and me both! Check out summaries of the sessions and photos from the fabulous three-day event.
SCOTUS has some patent cases to review and perhaps hear. Nothing’s cert-ain yet, though.
The USPTO has issued §2(d) office actions for Anthropic’s CLAUDE MYTHOS trademark applications. Well, that’s their story, and they’re sticking to it.
Amazon’s Merch on Demand service is in hot water after not only allegedly infringing a company’s t-shirt designs but also flagging takedown notices as fraudulent.
There will be no issue of the I ❤️ Trademarks Newsletter next week because I’m on vacation. Hi from Canada, and I’ll see you the week following!