(Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash)
Do you ever notice your favorite athlete wearing his signature shoe when he appears in a soda commercial? Or do you wonder why every car in an insurance commercial is missing a logo?
Continue reading “A Peak Behind the Curtain of Licensing IP for Commercials”
Crocs and the Importance of their Intellectual Property
We all recognize the brand! Crocs has sold over 850 million pairs of their iconic shoes in over 85 different countries since 2002. Today, Crocs offers numerous models of shoes. However, the company’s success can be attributed to their original clog-style shoe named the “Classic Clog.” The Classic Clog is made from a resin-based material known as Croslite. This material allows the shoe to be durable while offering the user exceptional comfort. These features have led Crocs to market its clog design for use across a variety of applications including boating, gardening, hiking, and even hospital-use.
Trademark Tug of War
A dispute between a dog toy manufacturer and Jack Daniels recently reached the Supreme Court. The dispute is about a new toy called “Bad Spaniel” that parodies the shape and look of the iconic Jack Daniels Bottle. did the Court side with Jack Daniels, or did the bad dog have its day?
Jack Daniels is an established whiskey brand sold in stores and bars nationwide. Bad Spaniel is a dog toy sold by VIP Products LLC that looks similar to the alcohol products sold by Jack Daniels.
The dog toy is in the shape of a Jack Daniels whiskey bottle. A label “Bad Spaniels” appears where the whiskey label would normally be placed. The label also lists “The Old No. 2 on your Tennessee Carpet” below the brand name. This is similar to the Jack Daniels brand Old No. 7 which lists the product name and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey” on the front label. The dog toy is a parody of the Jack Daniels bottle used to “make fun” of the famous bottle and brand. Continue reading “Bad Spaniels: Free Speech, Parody, or Blatant Infringement?”
Harry Styles might be the world’s biggest pop star. Styles began his musical career in 2010 as a member of the band One Direction, and he is now one of the most popular solo artists in the world. At February’s GRAMMY Awards, Styles’s “Harry’s House” won Album Of The Year, arguably the most significant award at the show. Styles is known not only for his … Continue reading Harry’s Style: Trademark Infringement Against Counterfeit Sellers
Even before starting law school at Loyola, I knew that I wanted to practice intellectual property (IP) law. IP law involves both transactional law and litigation. While transactional law focuses on the creation and review of documents and contracts, litigation focuses on resolving disputes, often in a courtroom setting. While I have always been interested in IP transactional law, I also saw the value of understanding litigation. Understanding litigation can be key to a lawyer’s transactional practice. A transactional lawyer can learn how to better draft documents and contracts so that a dispute (hopefully!) never arises and litigation is not needed. Continue reading “A Record Store Versus a Boy Band: My Experience on Loyola’s IP Moot Court Team”
By the time November 1st rolls around each year, I often expect to hear “All I Want For Christmas Is You” when I turn on the radio. Mariah Carey is America’s Christmas ‘It-girl.’ According to Vulture magazine, as of Christmas 2022, Mariah’s song was the longest-running holiday Number 1 song of all time. Her song, which was released in 1994, has garnered so much recognition … Continue reading Mariah Carey: No Longer The Queen of Christmas According to Trademark Experts
Two of the biggest brands in the fitness industry went head-to-head recently in a lawsuit for trademark infringement, which means one company is using some form of a trademark that another company believes is too similar to their own. Peloton has sued Lululemon over trade dress, which is a type of trademark that encompasses product design or product packaging.
Continue reading “A Trademark War in the Athletic Arena”
… Ready for It?
Ten Studio Albums. Five Tours. Two Re-Recordings. One Massive Fanbase. We know all too well that Taylor Swift is the pinnacle of success for the music industry. Spanning multiple genres from country to pop and even some folk(lore), Taylor Swift has accomplished a lot in her first 32 years of life. But what’s gotten her to this level of recognition?
Have you seen this Gucci shirt? Does anything seem strange about it to you? What if I told you that if you moved the dripping paint, the logo looked a bit different? Continue reading “Something’s Wrong with this Drip”
Have you heard of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens? In recent years, NFTs and their associated intellectual property rights are increasingly embroiled in legal battles. One such example is Nike v. StockX, a NFT trademark case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This case demonstrates that fashion brands like Nike are willing to battle in the courtroom for intellectual property rights in NFTs.
