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
Copyrights

The Rainbow Road to Nostalgia and Copyrights

In October of 1985, a heroic plumber named Mario journeyed through a kingdom of peaceful mushroom people to save a kidnapped princess from the hands of the evil, fire-breathing tyrant.

Thirty-eight years later, Mario once again journeyed through a kingdom of peaceful mushroom people, this time with the help of the princess to save his kidnapped brother from the hands of an evil, fire-breathing tyrant. However, rather than watching Mario’s adventure through a TV and a video game console, the beloved character now embarked on an adventure on the big screen.
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Ashton Yeh
Copyrights

Winter is Coming for OpenAI: What Constitutes Fair Use by ChatGPT?

Dragons, White Walkers and AI, oh my!

If you are a big Game of Thrones or fanfiction lover, buckle up! From one (legal) battlefront to the other, OpenAI has been under fire recently for the development of their artificial intelligence (AI) computer program ChatGPT. The Authors Guild and 17 individual authors (“Authors”), including “Game of Thrones” novelist George R.R. Martin, filed a lawsuit in September 2023, against Open AI for copyright infringement.

But before we dive into that, let’s cover the basics of ChatGPT.
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Francesca Zepeda
Trademarks

A Trademark Telenovela: Nestlé USA Fights to Keep Mexican Classics Off the Shelves

With winter (or Abuelita season) approaching, Chocolate Abuelita (a classic Mexican hot chocolate) is at the top of many Mexican minds. However, this time, the thought comes with a bit of uncertainty. This summer, a trademark infringement lawsuit between Nestlé USA and Ultra Mundiales, a Mexico-based distributor, took over Mexican Instagram and TikTok.

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Iris Gomez