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Free Mickey? (Don’t Be Goofy)

LexBlog IP

Freed from the shackles of copyright, Walt Disney’s iconic rodent was now in the public domain and, therefore, available for everyone to copy. It is no surprise that the legalities of the public domain are more complicated than the headlines suggest. Trademark law has something to say about use.

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Safeguarding Personal Names

Biswajit Sarkar Copyright Blog

This Act does not explicitly specify the inclusion or exclusion of personal names or surnames for trademark protection. The guiding norm in trademark law stipulates that a name or surname lacks eligibility for protection unless it carries distinctive characteristics.

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2023 IP Resolutions Start with a Review of IP Assets

The IP Law Blog

Even companies that regularly take steps to protect intellectual property through, for example, registering trademarks or registering copyrights, can benefit from a yearly review. Such inventions may be protectable under federal patent laws.

IP 98
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Time for the 12 O'Clock Boyz to go: court shuts down (c)/TM lawsuit against documentary & feature film about Baltimore bikers

43(B)log

Plaintiffs also alleged infringement of Monbo’s right of publicity, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Lanham Act and related Maryland trademark law. In addition, the design of the title of the 2013 Documentary was allegedly similar to plaintiffs’ registered 12 O’Clock Boyz logo.

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A Look Back at India’s Top IP Developments of 2021

SpicyIP

This case involved Sun Pharmaceuticals allegedly infringing Cipla’s copyright and registered trademark. Google argued that even when the keyword is a trademark, it is never used in a ‘trademark sense’, thereby the invisible use of trademarks, as keyword, failing to meet the threshold to constitute infringement.

IP 143
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Resolving Conflicts Between Trademark and Free Speech Rights After Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products (Guest Blog Post)

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

Ramsey is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law. She writes and teaches in the trademark law area, and recently wrote a paper with Professor Christine Haight Farley that focuses on speech-protective doctrines in trademark infringement law.] By Guest Blogger Lisa P. Ramsey [Lisa P.

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Evaluating the Constitutionality of Viewpoint-Neutral Trademark Registration Laws That Do Not Restrict Speech—Vidal v. Elster (Guest Blog Post)

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

I disagreed , and continue to think the Court will uphold the constitutionality of Section 2(c), but the question is what free speech doctrine(s) the Justices will use to make this determination and whether they will provide additional guidance on evaluating First Amendment challenges to trademark laws.