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Free Speech Intellectual Property Protection First Amendment

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Is the Art of Parody Dead? - Implications of SCOTUS Jack Daniel’s Opinion A Year Later

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It has been a year since the Supreme Court issued its decision in the multiple-year legal battle between VIP Products LLC and Jack Daniel’s. We covered this dispute when it was back at the 9th Circuit....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Trademarking History: Justices Uphold Names Clause, Clash Over Reasoning

On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Vidal v. Elster, a case that pitted trademark law against the First Amendment’s free speech protections. While the Court unanimously upheld the Patent and...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Lanham Act’s Personal Names Restriction Does Not Violate First Amendment

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As expected, based on the tenor of the Justices’ questions during oral argument, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a trademark applicant seeking to register a mark commenting on former President Donald Trump. The...more

McDermott Will & Emery

[Webinar] 2024 IP Outlook: Trends Affecting Patent, Trademark, Copyright and Trade Secret Holders - December 12th, 1:00 pm - 2:00...

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As 2023 draws to a close, new developments continue to emerge across the patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret spaces. Join members of McDermott’s Intellectual Property Group for a year-end review that will explore...more

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

Supreme Court to Examine Free Speech Limits in “TRUMP TOO SMALL” Trademark Case

The intersection of free speech and private business branding is once again in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. On June 5th, the Supreme Court decided to hear Vidal v. Elster, Case 22-704, an appeal from the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SCOTUS To Examine Whether First Amendment “Trumps” Lanham Act

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The U.S. Supreme Court continues to show interest in trademark issues with its recent grant of certiorari in another case pitting the Lanham Act against the First Amendment....more

Foster Garvey PC

Supreme Court Reinforces Trademark Protections for Brand Owners in Jack Daniel’s Decision

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The recent Supreme Court decision in the Jack Daniel's trademark lawsuit against a dog toy manufacturer has significant implications for both brand owners and those seeking to parody established trademarks....more

Jones Day

SCOTUS Holds Whiskey-Themed Dog Toy Not Entitled to First Amendment Protection

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In a closely watched trademark infringement case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that when an alleged infringer uses a trademark as a source identifier for the infringer's own products, the First Amendment does...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

Supreme Court’s Bad Spaniels Decision Limits Parody Defense to Trademark Infringement

On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products, limiting the scope of a parody defense to a trademark infringement claim...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Jack Daniel's Wins Supreme Court Battle with Dog Toy Seller Who Mocked Iconic Brand

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In a win for brand owners across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that potential infringers as a threshold matter are not automatically shielded from liability by simply claiming their infringement includes...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SCOTUS Finds Dog Poop Jokes Reek of Infringement

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The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the Ninth Circuit’s opinion that a poop-themed dog toy should be protected as parody under the First Amendment. SCOTUS ruled today in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Identifying the Source of Goods and Services Is No Laughing Matter

On June 8, 2023, the United States Supreme Court clarified an important unanswered question about the line between the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and trademark owners’ rights under the Lanham Act. In a unanimous, 9-0...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Parody, trademarks and the courts

Delineating the boundaries between trademark protection and protected speech has been a long-contested legal issue. On one hand, the Lanham Act governs the use of trademarks to protect consumers from a likelihood of confusion...more

Dechert LLP

Trademark Protection and Protected Speech In and Out of the Metaverse

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The line between free speech and brand protection remains blurry after a February jury verdict in the NFT case of Hermès Int’l. v. Rothschild and the recent Supreme Court oral arguments in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v....more

Polsinelli

Relax Jack...It’s Only a Joke!

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Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC. (Docket 22-148) On March 22, 2023, VIP Products LLC told the Supreme Court that its parody Bad Spaniels whiskey-bottle-shaped dog toys do not violate the Lanham Act...more

International Lawyers Network

Free Speech, Chatting About Friends, Kraken/Crackin’ On AI, & Thinking About Fred & Ginger: Generated Content, Amici Curiae, & A...

Lots of people are talking about ChatGPT. Some, like those at Microsoft, see it as a valuable tool to be integrated into their products and platforms; indeed, one of its lawyers thought that the answer provided by ChatGPT...more

McDermott Will & Emery

“TRUMP TOO SMALL” Trademark Decision Leaves Big Questions

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Revisiting jurisprudence touching on the Lanham Act and the First Amendment from the Supreme Court’s decisions in Matal v. Tam and Iancu v. Brunetti, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that applying Sec....more

Bodman

Disparaging, Immoral, and Scandalous Trademarks: Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should

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At a Glance - Even though the Supreme Court has paved the way for brands to register trademarks that may be considered disparaging, immoral, or scandalous, brand owners are reversing themselves and voluntarily changing....more

Hogan Lovells

Tips for Companies Saying Goodbye to Racial Stereotypes in Branding

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The last year has seen urgent discussions concerning racism, discrimination, police violence, inequality, and social justice come to the forefront of life in the United States. Corporate America – and its brands – responded...more

Goodwin

Q+A With Goodwin’s ‘Hot’ Appellate Group

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Goodwin’s Appellate Litigation practice has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts, representing clients in matters ranging from First Amendment rights to governmental...more

Sunstein LLP

Activision Wins the (Trademark) War: First Amendment Protects Depiction of Humvees in Realistic Video Games

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A federal judge in New York recently held that the First Amendment right to convey realism in video games can outweigh trademark rights. Activision Blizzard makes one of the world’s most popular video games. Call of Duty...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

French Picasso Judgment is Abstract Expression to U.S. Law

Last week, Sheppard Mullin partner Neil Popovic (San Francisco) secured summary judgment against recognition of a €2 million ($2.2 million) French judgment against art editor Alan Wofsy and Wofsy’s company Alan Wofsy &...more

Sunstein LLP

Humvee Goes Into Battle: Will Its Trademarks Leave Tread Marks on Video Game Makers?

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The realism of video games is intensified by the inclusion of products and brands we recognize from daily life. Can the thrill of such verisimilitude coexist alongside the rights of trademark owners?...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Intellectual Property Bulletin - Summer 2019

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In This Issue - A Looming AI War: Transparency v. IP Rights - As artificial intelligence systems become more prevalent in daily life, efforts to create a unifying set of AI principles have intensified. In the past few...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media

Social Links: Suit over “embedded tweet” with Tom Brady’s photo settles; brand agency manipulates Wikipedia; evidence from...

In March Socially Aware reported on a lawsuit involving several prominent news outlets’ publication of a photo of NFL quarterback Tom Brady on Twitter. The case had the potential to upend a copyright and Internet-law rule...more

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