lanham act

  • Fandom and Fair Use – Fan Art

    Fandom and Fair Use – Fan Art

    Anthony Cartee

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    Fan Art & Fair Use – Many fans enjoy creating original artwork based on their favorite books, TV shows, movies, musicians, and musicals. This might include drawings, t-shirt designs, posters, jewelry, and other items featuring popular characters, figures, costumes, or scenery whose copyright is owned by someone else. While fans may think that their creations are wholly original and do not constitute copyright infringement, sometimes these works can cross the line and open the door to legal liability. What is Fan Art and How Does It Relate to Copyright Law? Many fans enjoy creating original artwork based on their favorite… Read More

  • The Legal Landscape of Landscape Design

    The Legal Landscape of Landscape Design

    Anthony Cartee

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    Landscape Design Copyright Protection – Thanks to California’s sunny climate and culture of outdoor living, many California residents enlist landscape designers to create the perfect outdoor space. These outdoor living amenities are often widely shared on social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, and publicized in magazines and advertising circulars. Thus, landscape designers should know their legal rights when others copy or take credit for a unique landscape design or painstaking landscaping plan. Copyright Protection for Landscape Design First, landscape designers are entitled to copyright protection in their landscape designs i.e. the technical landscape plan or even a rough… Read More

  • Nominative Fair Use: One Defense Against a Brand Bully

    Nominative Fair Use: One Defense Against a Brand Bully

    Anthony Cartee

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    Understanding Brand Bullies On top of today’s extremely competitive market, small businesses may be also dealing with a “brand bully.” Also known as a trademark bully, a brand bully is a company that resorts to litigation and uses its trademark rights to harass and intimidate another business without a sound legal basis. These companies often file oppositions against marks or the use of their alleged mark that would not directly or substantially damage them. The brand bullies primarily rely on their “fame” or “strength” of their marks, and the smaller business’s lack of resources for prolonged litigation. Typically, these brand… Read More

  • Do Two Generics Make a Trademark Registration?

    Do Two Generics Make a Trademark Registration?

    Anthony Cartee

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    SCOTUS Ruling In USPTO v. Booking.com Opens The Door For Generic Domain Owners To Register Their Trademark The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has believed that “generic.com” domain names were almost always generic and therefore not registrable under trademark law. However, the Supreme Court’s nearly unanimous decision in USPTO v. Booking.com (2020) 591 U.S. ___, earlier this year has rejected that per se rule, which means such generic combinations have the potential to become protectable trademarks. Under the Lanham Act, a mark must be distinctive in order to obtain protection. As such, generic terms alone cannot be protected as… Read More