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Kylie v. Kylie: The Trademark War
The Kardshian family owns an empire built on a foundation of lifestyle brands and reality television shows, but can they stake their claim in their first names too? Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, is certainly trying. In a trademark...
De Sole v. Knoedler Gallery Settles: What’s next for the art world?
In today’s art market with record high prices, anonymous sellers, and competitive buyers, purchasing art can be a risky investment. It is particularly risky when the $8.3 million Mark Rothko painting you just purchased could be a fake, painted by a man in his basement...
The ARTS Act: The Potential Solution to the Musician Visa Problem
Music is a global phenomenon. Each musician brings his own unique voice and teaches audiences about various cultures and traditions throughout the world. To perform in the United States, foreign musicians must first obtain visas from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration...
“NBA 2K16” Copyright Infringement over Tattoos
. On February 1, 2016, Solid Oak Sketches filed suit in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against Take-Two Interactive for copyright infringement claiming unauthorized reproduction of tattoo designs. Solid Oak Sketches obtained the rights...
“Navajo”: Pattern or People?
Back in October 2011, A Native American woman named Sarah Houston Brown confronted the CEO of Urban Outfitters regarding their use of the word “Navajo” in a myriad of the company’s products, finding them “beyond demeaning and inappropriate on a personal and collective...
American Trademark Story: Ritchie v. Simpson
On this week’s episode of ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,’ one scene in particular stuck with me. Lawyer Robert Shapiro (played by John Travolta) is craftily assembling Simpson’s “Dream Team” of defense attorneys. Shapiro recruits lawyer Alan...
China’s Double Standards – Counterfeiting Investigators
Notoriously known for its counterfeit industry, China has received wide criticism for its markets of dangerously fake products including food, auto parts and pharmaceuticals.[i] The country's struggle with this issue was further plagued by recent...
Viacom Sues Over ‘Krusty Krab’ Trademark Application
Viacom may have dipped its toes into the restaurant business before with the 1996 opening of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (named after a popular character from the film Forrest Gump)[1], but it has yet to chart the same course with a staple of the children’s series Spongebob...
Another Victory for Fair Use in the Second Circuit
2015 proved to be a watershed year for the fair use defense to copyright infringement, with the latest decision ending a long-running dispute between the Authors Guild and Google over the Google Books project.[1] In Authors Guild v. Google, the Second Circuit held...
Bowl-Bound College Football Teams: Racial Disparity in Graduation Rates
Earlier this month Clemson (No.1) and Alabama (No.2) competed in the national championships to determine who would rein champion of the 2015 college football season. What followed was a fight until the end between two powerhouses represented by some of...