Interviewer: “So, what’s your favorite Coca-Cola product?”
Me: I draw a blank at the simple question, trying to think of any Coca-Cola product in existence. A picture of the classic Coca-Cola can flashes in my mind; the bold cursive letters against the vibrant red background. “Well, it has to be Coca-Cola, of course!”
Continue reading “Trademark Tale: From a Mistaken Coca-Cola Enthusiast to Aspiring IP Attorney”
Epilepsy: a life-altering word. Time stood still as the doctor gave me her diagnosis. My knuckles whitened as my grip tightened on the armchair. After years of not knowing the root cause of my health issues, I now had an answer. My diagnosis changed the trajectory of my life as I knew it. This pivotal moment separated my life into a “before” and an “after.” The love for math and science from my “before” life melded into a passion for navigating the landscape of innovation and technology. This passion defined my “after” life, and eventually propelled me into intellectual property law. But, let me start at the beginning with the “before.”
During my junior year of undergrad, I was ecstatic when I received an offer to join the Legal Department of Fox Entertainment Group (now, 20th Century Studios) as a Content Protection Intern. The idea of working on a major studio lot was more than exciting to someone who had grown up an hour away from Hollywood. Continue reading “From the Studio Lot to Law School”
Before taking an intellectual property (IP) course this past fall, I assumed trademarks only applied to brand slogans. I did not realize that trademarks could apply to physical products, too.
Now that I have taken various IP courses and participated in the IP Moot Court team, I see trademark protection everywhere. This made me wonder: can a commonplace item, like an applicator for a tampon, receive trade dress protection?
Before jumping into that answer, let’s first explain what a trade dress is.
Continue reading “Trade Dress: Can A Tampon Applicator Get Trademark Protection?”
Can Intellectual Property Protect Board Games?
I love board games and have been playing a lot of Settlers of Catan online during the pandemic. I use a site called colonist.io, which is an offshoot, unaffiliated version of the Settlers of Catan game. During my Intellectual Property (IP) class with Professor Ho earlier this year, I wondered how IP rights extend to board games. When we tend to think of IP, we might think of cool technological inventions for patents or Disney’s Mickey Mouse for copyright. IP generally relates to protecting human created products, names, and expressions, and can give its owner rights to protect these.
Continue reading “Stealing Settlers? How IP factors into Online Games”
