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Recent Trademark In Titles Cases Show 'High Bar' for Proving Public Was 'Explicitly Misled'
When it comes to expressive content, disputes over trademark rights in titles of creative works are commonly fought under the federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq. Many of these battles play out in courts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has well-developed legal guidelines on the subject — many of them from lawsuits that have arisen in the entertainment industry.
In Twentieth Century Fox TV v. Empire Distribution Inc., 875 F.3d 1192 (9th Cir. 2017), for example, the Ninth Circuit decided that the use of the title "Empire" for a Fox TV show didn't infringe on the trademark rights of an urban music label named Empire Distribution, even though the TV show was about a fictional New York-based record company named "Empire Enterprises." Fox also sold soundtrack albums and merchandise, and promoted its TV program through live events, for its Empire brand.
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Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
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A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
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Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.