Businesses typically rely on trademark or even copyright to protect their valuable branding assets. However, an effective branding strategy also employs the exclusivity of both design and utility patent protection whenever its available, effectively keeping potential competitors out of the marketplace, regardless of brand name. Illustrating this concept in greater detail are the case studies […]
William Scott Goldman
Back to the Future: The Year In Business Law
Recapping major developments from this past year in IP, branding law, trade regulation, and entertainment law, COVID-19 once again dominated our lives some two years later, casting its long shadow over the legal landscape. And branding law was no exception as outlined in our piece, COVID ®: Global Pandemic or U.S. Brandemic. Aside from the […]
Expanding Branding: Exploring Other Forms Of Trademark Protection
One key Branding Law strategy involves stretching the boundaries of traditional trademark principles for registering important business assets. As a companion piece to our discussion of non-standard copyrights from a few months back, the following is a brief survey of some lesser-known types of trademarks that could be available for protecting certain brand attributes as […]
Non-standard Copyrights: The Scope of Protection is Expanding
Copyright law typically protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression against copying. As such, traditional examples of copyrightable subject matter have included books, motion pictures, sound recordings, paintings, and sculptural works. However, copyright is also applicable in certain “special cases”, such as product branding, websites and choreography. Choreographic Copyrights With […]
THE ENTREPRENEUR’S BLUEPRINT
STARTUPS: START HERE Launching a side business is a wise decision whether considering a career transition or even as a source of secondary income, especially during these uncertain times. Consulting with an experienced attorney is vital for any startup, however. From raising capital to entity formation to tax considerations, regulatory and compliance issues, intellectual property […]
2021 In the Law -A Look Ahead in Trademark & Branding Cases
In a follow up to our 2020 retrospective from last month, it’s time for a prospective survey covering some of the major cases that could be shaping the legal landscape in 2021, relevant to trademark and social media areas. As discussed in that countdown article, Tiffany v. Costco culminated a warehouse club-sized trademark fair use […]
Counting Down Major Law Decisions of 2020
It’s time for an annual end-of-year retrospective, and quite a year it was. After what quickly turned from optimism for the new decade to something else entirely, now we’re all hoping for 2020 hindsight, so to speak. However, the court cases continued grinding forward as remote depositions and virtual testimony became much more commonplace. So here are our […]
