Trade Secrets

The Driving Force of Formula 1: Trade Secrets

My fascination for motorsports skyrocketed since attending my first NASCAR race last summer. So naturally, I discovered Formula 1 (F1), a similar motorsport. F1 is the highest level of open-wheel-single-seater auto racing sport. Most importantly, F1 is known for pushing the boundaries of technology and engineering.

Although F1 generally did not captivate me as much as NASCAR, the F1 intellectual property (“IP”) dramas involving trade secrets got my attention. First, I will explain why there is trade secret drama to begin with, and not a different type of IP drama. Then, I will cover some trade secret fundamentals. And, of course, I will share the trade secret drama that inspired this post: Spygate.

So, hold on to your seats as we go on this ride!

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Iris Gomez
Why Loyola

My Ride to IP at Loyola

My first exposure to intellectual property (IP) unexpectedly started with t-shirts. If you asked me five years ago if it is easy to get approval for a phrase on a t-shirt, I probably would’ve said yes. However, now I know it can sometimes be anything but easy. In college, I was the President of Notre Dame’s (ND) Equestrian Team. To raise funds for the club, my fellow officers and I wanted to stamp “Ride Like a Champion Today” on t-shirts and sell them. We based this slogan off the “Play Like a Champion Today” phrase commonly used for ND Football. Expecting it to be a simple and quick process like our other t-shirt fund-raising campaigns, we sent in our mock-up for approval, but the athletics department answered with a resounding NO. What!?

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Emily Moll
Patents

Patent Enablement – For the Greater Good of the General Public

Patent law is often thought to incentivize and benefit inventors. Patent holders have exclusive rights restricting others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and importing into the U.S. their patented invention. However, the constitutional clause founding patent law aims to benefit the greater public by promoting the progress of science and useful arts. One of the ways patent law helps promote the progress of science is through the Enablement Requirement.

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Matthew OBoyle
Trade Dress, Trademarks

Trendy Dupes and Hypothetical Trade Dress Disputes

Rise of the Dupes

With trends coming and going so fast, most people cannot possibly keep up. However, that does not stop the desire to keep up with them. It is very costly for consumers to keep up with ever-changing products. So, consumers are now opting for “dupes.” For example, consumers frequently opt for #lululemondupes to get the same look as the Canadian brand of leggings and athleisure but for a much lower cost.

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Maya Smith
Trademarks

Importing Pez, Dispensing Trademark Infringement

In 2022, Netflix released a quirky true crime documentary, called The Pez Outlaw, detailing the passionate rivalry between the president of PEZ USA (“the Pezident”) and Steve Glew, a Pez collector who brought thousands of Pez dispensers into the US illegally. The film follows the heartfelt story of Glew, aka the “Pez Outlaw,” whose candy smuggling adventures introduce its audience to issues of IP liability, … Continue reading Importing Pez, Dispensing Trademark Infringement

Bailey Hammond
Patents

Palatable Patents

Did you know that many of the food products you see on the shelf at the grocery store are patented?

Utility patents are granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for useful “inventions” that are new and nonobvious. The owner of a utility patent has the right to exclude others from making, selling, offering to sell, using, or importing the patented invention for a set period of time—usually around 17 years.

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Corinne Macnichol
Patents

Startups and Their (Non)Obvious Patents

Startups and Their (Non)Obvious Patents Many products and services we use every day are inventions from startups that were innovative, new, and exciting at the time they were created. For example, many of us now use, and take for granted, Uber for transportation or Square to easily pay with credit cards at restaurants or stores. While these companies’ platforms might be obvious to us now, … Continue reading Startups and Their (Non)Obvious Patents

Kristen Salas Mationg
Trademarks

Checking Out Trader Joe’s Tote Bag Trademark Battle

Trader Joe’s: A Long Grocery List of Trademarks

Trader Joe’s is an undeniably popular grocery store chain.
It operates over 500 locations in the United States across 42 states and Washington, D.C., with estimated annual sales that reach $16.5 billion.

I’m a fanatical patron myself. I love its funky, mom-and-pop aesthetic and products that I can’t seem to get elsewhere like Everything But the Bagel seasoning (Trader Joe’s owns the trademark for that). The chain has achieved wide success with its “cult-like” customer base

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Maris Chetsea M Medina
Trademarks

Dumb Starbucks or Smart Starbucks? Brewing Up Effective Parodies

Years before I started law school, I enjoyed indulging in the work of a comedian named Nathan Fielder, a master of absurdist comedy. Never did I realize this would be one of my first encounters with the many principles of trademark law. On his show, Nathan for You, he acts as a “consultant” helping real people with their real businesses. However, Nathan’s version of “help” only included absurd and unrealistic ideas, such as the concept of “Dumb Starbucks.”
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Elizabeth Schrieber