I ♡ Trademarks NewsletterIssue #357
Bri Van Til | October 10, 2023
Controversies
As predicted by several in the trademark world, Elon Musk is facing a trademark infringement suit for X.
If you’re looking to stir up controversy, perhaps consider trademarking the name and logo of your local school’s sports team and then try licensing the rights to the school for a fee.
Well, speaking of controversy, Kanye West has filed a trademark application for YEWS. Yep, really.
The Slants—whose founder is the Tam of Matal v. Tam which successfully challenged the ban on “immoral or scandalous” trademarks—have released what they’re calling their “final album.”
Have a Ball
Deion Sanders is back at it with trademark applications, including one that has already been denied to another coach.
A class action suit against the NCAA could reshape collegiate NIL agreements and cost the NCAA billions.
Adidas is opposing another trademark application, this time for LIV Golf’s logo, because its L has three lines. Three stripes and they’re out.
Former New Zealand rugby player Jonah Lomu’s widow is in a trademark battle with the executor of the player’s estate.
A Foregone Confusion
This case serves as a reminder that “commercial impression” means a lot more than just words.
Using an image of an EasyJet plane on their posters probably didn’t make it, um, easy, for band Easy Life to combat the airline’s claims of trademark infringement.
A SDNY judge has dismissed Liberty Tax’s lawsuit against AMC, alleging Better Call Saul’s Sweet Liberty Tax Service defamed and infringed upon their brand.
Professional Concerns
Warner get a new job as technology and commercial counsel?
If you Endeavor to get a job as fashion counsel, this might be the listing for you.
Surprisingly, this listing for a senior commercial attorney at Equinox is still available weeks after the event. Either that or you have to wait until the spring to be hired.
I’ve never Meta lawyer working for this tech giant who didn’t seem satisfied with their job, so check out this associate counsel position.
Fordget your current job and apply to be an attorney at this auto manufacturer instead.
If you could Snap your fingers and create the ideal position, this might be it; apply to be commercial counsel at this social media company.
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
Several members of the Alt Legal team (including me, folks!) were at TMAP last week. See some great photos here.
A young attorney made history in India as the first deaf lawyer to present arguments before the country’s Supreme Court.
SCOTUS is set to decide how to calculate damages in a copyright infringement case against Flo Rida, given that the plaintiff claims to have learned of the infringement long after it began.
Check out this interesting article about the relationships between different types of IP protection, organization size, R&D, and more.
This scathing review of the new Exorcist movie calls it “a new low in intellectual property cynicism.” This serves to remind us what kind of disaster Hollywood averted with the new WGA contracts’ ban on AI writing.
This USPTO research paper examines what happened to the metaverse once Facebook entered the space.