Features

AI Against Counterfeits: How Smart Technology Is Reshaping Brand Protection and Platform Accountability
As AI becomes more sophisticated at detecting fakes, it is not just changing how brands protect themselves — it has the potential to change the legal framework for determining when platforms themselves might be held responsible for the counterfeits sold on their sites.
Features

Post-SCOTUS District Court Ruling In Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products Reshapes Trademark Dilution Jurisprudence
For companies developing novelty products, advertising campaigns, or brand-related parodies, this case underscores the importance of reviewing both confusion and reputational risks. For rights holders, it affirms that parody is not a license to defame a brand.
Features

OpenAI Gets Summary Judgment In Trademark Battle With Open Artificial Intelligence
A trademark battle that pitted technology giant OpenAI against a company known as Open AI (note the space between the terms) has resulted in a summary judgment that has ordered the smaller enterprise to cease use of the name and its prized internet real estate, open.ai.
Features

Successful and Enforceable Brands Connect with the Consumer: Lessons from a Recent 10th Circuit Decision
Protectable rights are created the same way a successful brand is established — linking your Mark and your company’s offering in the minds of the consumer is a must. The good news? Regardless of your company’s size or marketing budget, this necessary connection can be achieved.
Columns & Departments

IP News
“Not Merely Monkey Business”: The Bored Ape Case and NFT Branding in the Ninth Circuit
Features

The Suspension Bridge Effect: Why Trademark Attorneys Must Protect Entire Brand Systems, Not Just Individual Marks
In brand protection, as in bridge engineering, the strength of brand differentiation (trademark distinctiveness) depends on the integrity of each supporting cable. When one snaps, the question is not only whether you can fix that component, but also whether the whole structure will hold together long enough for the repair crew to arrive.
Features

Tea Leaves Tell Tales: Jury Awards $2.36 Million for Bigelow’s “Manufactured in the USA 100%” Label
On April 8, a California jury found that R.C. Bigelow, Inc., the well-known manufacturer of Bigelow teas, intentionally or recklessly misled consumers by claiming that some of its teabags were “Manufactured in the USA.” The price for this mislabeling was steep, with the jury awarding the class action plaintiffs $2.36 million.
Features

Beyond the Logo: How AI Complicates Trademark Protection In the Digital Age
Today, building brands solely on the promise of a different product or service has become unsustainable. Any “new and improved” feature or benefit is quickly eclipsed by competitors. Consequently, brands signal category superiority not through rational claims, but by reinforcing a distinct persona — a “ness” comprised of distinguishing traits and behaviors that form an ownable brand essence difficult for competitors to replicate.
Features

TTAB Allows for Non-User to Oppose Trademark for Reputational Injury
In a recent case, although finding no standing in the case in front of it, a federal court noted that it was, however, possible that a nonuser could demonstrate entitlement to cancel or oppose by establishing either lost sales in the United States or reputational injury in the United States under the Lanham Act.
Features

Trademark Ruling on Netflix Running Point Series Holds Off ‘Death Knell’ of Rogers Tradition
A federal judge in California declined to stop the debut of the new Netflix series Running Point that Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, claims infringes on its trademarks by using the mascot name, the “Waves,” and colors of the private Christian college.
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