THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES MUST WAIT IN LINE FOR “PHILLY SPECIAL” TRADEMARK

By Joseph Mandour on February 27, 2018

Orange County – Fresh off its first-ever Super Bowl win, on February 15th the Philadelphia Eagles filed a U.S. Trademark Application for “Philly Special” for apparel. The phrase “Philly Special” was made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in relation to a trick play. The phrase was called out by the team in the second quarter, on a fourth-and-goal when QB Nick Foles caught the ball in the end zone. Days after the Super Bowl win the Eagles were already using the phrase on shirts with the team’s logo.

One problem for the Eagles is that on February 9th, six days earlier than the Eagles, D.G. Yuengling & Son I Read the rest

STONE BREWING SUES MILLERCOORS OVER “STONE” TRADEMARK

By Joseph Mandour on February 16, 2018

San Diego – On Monday, February 12th, 2018, San Diego based Stone Brewing filed a lawsuit against MillerCoors for allegedly infringing the “Stone” trademark. According to Stone Brewing, during the rebranding of Keystone, MillerCoors has used the “Stone” trademark to potentially steal the customers and reputation of Stone Brewing.

Last April, the new Keystone cans were introduced with the word “Stone” standing out in capital letters. Later, Stone Brewing’s Greg Koch stated that MillerCoors was “deliberately creating confusion in the marketplace.” Koch continued to say MillerCoors was not only jeopardizing Stone Read the rest

AMAZON WRISTBAND PATENT ALLOWS IT TO TRACK MOVEMENTS OF EMPLOYEES

By Joseph Mandour on February 8, 2018

San Diego – Amazon has won two patents for wristbands that inform employers what their employees are doing. The patents were originally filed in 2016 and were published on January 30, 2018. The wristband can track employee movement including how active the employee is which would be a measurement of productivity. The wristband could also track how often the employee took breaks, visited a restroom, and can even vibrate when a task is performed incorrectly or if an employee becomes too inactive.

Amazon has been known for testing products internally before putting them on the market. The patent descriptions vigilantly outline that the trac Read the rest

GRUMPY CAT WINS $710,001 COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT AGAINST GRENADE BEVERAGE

By Joseph Mandour on January 30, 2018

Orange County – Back in 2012, a Snowshoe Siamese cat named Tardar Sauce became an Internet sensation through photos of the cat’s signature grumpy expression. Tardar Sauce is now infamously known as Grumpy Cat. The cat’s owner, Tabatha Bundesen, created Grumpy Cat Limited to create business opportunities for the cat. The following year in 2013, Grenade Beverage paid $150,000 and signed an agreement to use the cat’s image on its ‘Grumpuccino’ iced coffee.

Shortly after, Grenade started using the cat’s image on other products including t-shirts and other beverages. Grumpy Cat Limited claimed that these uses were not authorized, and so in Read the rest

HARD CANDY COSMETICS ABANDONS ITS TRADEMARK FOR #METOO

By Joseph Mandour on January 22, 2018

Los Angeles – Popular makeup brand Hard Candy Cosmetics filed a trademark application for #MeToo in October 2017 which created great controversy. Hard Candy was looking to brand a line of fragrances and cosmetics with the hashtag #MeToo. #MeToo has been at the core of a social movement to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

Social activist Tarana Burke is said to have created the phrase in 2007, and it was then popularized by actress Alyssa Milano in 2017 when she encouraged women to tweet #MeToo to demonstrate the scale of the social issue.

Hard Candy Cosmetics has a history of supporting n Read the rest

SPOTIFY FACES $1.6 BILLION COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT REGARDING MUSIC LICENSES

By Joseph Mandour on January 11, 2018

Orange County – The new year is bringing in with it the first significant reform of music licensing rules in decades. Streaming services like Spotify are continuing to gain in popularity as consumer purchase less Compact Discs. Spotify is now facing three lawsuits alleging that it has failed to pay artists for the music it streams.

Most recently, the Swedish streaming company has to deal with a new larger copyright lawsuit from Wixen Music Publishing. Wixen Music Publishing filed a lawsuit in California federal court that alleges Spotify is using Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” and several thousand Read the rest

BARSTOOL SPORTS THREATENS NFL WITH TRADEMARK LAWSUIT

By Joseph Mandour on January 3, 2018

Los Angeles – Founder Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports is ready to sue the NFL over an alleged trademark infringement. Barstool Sports has sold shirts, flags and other apparel with the phrase “Saturdays Are For The Boys.” The NFL recently began selling shirts that include the phrase “Sundays are for the Boys” which is in reference to the Dallas Cowboys.

Apart from the Cowboys, the NFL is also selling shirts that include the phrase “Sundays Are For The [Team Name]” with each team name. Barstool Sports believes that the shirts are a play on the verbiage used by Barstool Sports.

Barstool Sports and the NFL have a rocky re Read the rest

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON WINS TRADEMARK LAWSUIT AGAINST SALT LAKE COMIC CON

By Joseph Mandour on December 15, 2017

San Diego – After a long-running battle, a jury in San Diego decided in favor of Comic-Con International, the nonprofit behind San Diego Comic-Con, which has been an iconic pop culture fan event for a whopping 50 years. The ruling holds that San Diego Comic-Con does hold trademark rights to “Comic-con”.

The lawsuit began when San Diego Comic-Con claimed that the two defendants Daniel Far Read the rest

APPLE COUNTERSUES QUALCOMM FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

By Joseph Mandour on December 7, 2017

San Diego – Qualcomm has long accused Apple of infringing its patents, but now the tables have turned. In a new countersuit, Apple alleges that it owns at least eight battery life patents that Qualcomm has violated. Apple, the company that kickstarted the modern smartphone, stated that Qualcomm is acting like a “common patent troll” – a company that hoards intellectual property without making any real products.

San Diego based Qualcom Read the rest

WOOF-TANG CLAN DOG WALKING COMPANY TRADEMARK OPPOSED BY WU-TANG CLAN

By Joseph Mandour on November 30, 2017

Orange County – The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip hop group from New York. Wu-Tang Clan’s producer, RZA, recently filed a trademark opposition against a Brooklyn dog-walking company after it filed a trademark application for “Woof-Tang Clan” on June 8, 2017. The opposition states that the Woof-Tang Clan trademark is likely to be confused with multiple registrations already owned by the Wu-Tang Clan.

Marty Cuatchon is the owner of Woof-Tang Clan, Read the rest