What I’m really a fan of, though, are the quirky marathons with even quirkier names — the Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon™, the Wild Wild West Marathon™, the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon™, the Lost Dutchman Marathon™, Humpy’s Classic™, and the ever-popular (but not very populated) Extraterrestrial Full Moon Midnight Marathon™
Entries from February 21st, 2010
What I Talk About When I Talk About Golf
February 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Popular, Trademark
In a world where golfers occasionally appear as colorful bananas (e.g., Sergio Garcia) arrayed in their Company Man gear, where marketing and adsense invade every arena no matter how small, the idea of a man simply walking down the fairway in a plain grey sweater has a certain appeal.
I Can Say Your Name!
February 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Trademark
If we pause a moment and reflect on the pervasiveness of trademarks and advertising in the world economy, we can begin to understand how – despite the lessons of history — trademark owners occasionally forget that simply trademarking a word or phrase does not remove it from the common lexicon. People can still use the [...]
Tags:Boston Marathon·fair use·infringement·likelihood of confusion·Trademark
Pub Owners Raise A Pint
February 14th, 2010 · No Comments · Copyright
Publicans across the British Isles stand to recover as much as £20 million in their ongoing legal battle over the payment of copyright fees for playing music at their pubs. A High Court ruling yesterday found in the favor of pubs, restaurants, and hotels, and dismissed the appeal by Phonographic Performance Ltd, which had introduced [...]
Disney Gets Marvel, But Who Gets the Characters?
February 6th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Copyright
When Disney announced that it was buying Marvel for $4 billion last fall, the hype failed to mention that Jack Kirby‘s kids were seeking to recover ownership rights to some of the most popular titles in recent times — including such luminaries as X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider Man, the Avengers, and the Incredible Hulk. [...]
Tags:Avatar·comics·Disney·Fantastic Four·hero·Hulk·Jack Kirby·Marvel·Spider-Man·superhero·Thor·X-Men
Who Dat Trademark, Commissioner?
February 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Trademark
Just days before the Super Bowl kicks off, the National Football League has done some strategic back-peddling from its claim of ownership rights in the popular chant of New Orleans Saints fans — “Who Dat?” The NFL drew almost universal criticism from Saints fans and the public at large after sending out a series of [...]
Tags:cease-and-desist·demand letter·fleur-de-lis·ownership rights·who dat
“Men” Down in Case Down Under
February 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Copyright
The 80′s Australian pop-rock band Men at Work, whose vegemite-themed hit “Down Under” vaulted them into superstardom — winning them a Grammy for Best New Artist, and earning them a place in rock history as the only Aussie band to have ever concurrently had a No. 1 album and single in the U.S. – has [...]
I am a commercial litigator and 
