Category: Cases

Under the Lanham Act, which provides the situations in which a mark can be registered, there are also a number of prohibitions on registration. See Lanham Act § 2(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a). One such bar on registration is a mark that disparages a person, institution, belief, or national symbol—and Native Americans

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned a controversial Second Circuit opinion and held that the first sale doctrine applies to a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad. This case, Kirstaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, is one that has been closely followed by many copyright scholars and publishers alike due to

One key aspect of protecting a trademark is policing the mark. A failure to police a mark may render the mark owner’s trademark unprotectable if another party begins infringing the mark without recourse, especially if the activity goes on unchallenged for a long period of time. However, a recent ruling by the

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories at various times between 1887 and 1927. Leslie S. Klinger is a living expert on the mystery and thriller genres in literature, including the Canon of Sherlock Holmes. The Canon “refers to the four (4) novels and fifty-six (56) stories by Sir Arthur

Social media can be a powerful tool for all kinds of messages—including citizen-level accounts of breaking news. Huge, newsworthy events on both national and international levels have broken on social media sites such as Twitter. And, for the most part, this kind of in-the-moment, 140-character relay of information has been a boon