Legal News
NBA AND NHL TRADEMARK BATTLES:
By The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Friday, December 16, 2016. Michael Jordan Scores a Win in China's Highest Court The majority of Michael Jordan's victories have been on the basketball court, but now he can add a victory that took place at China's highest court to his list of accomplishments. After four long years, Mr. Jordan won a landmark trademark case against Qiaodan Sports Company, a company that he has accused of profiting off his name. How? Qiaodan is the Mandarin transliteration of "Jordan". The customer confusion is easy to understand. The Qiaodan storefront features the silhouette of a basketball player with a basketball in his hand and they sell sporting goods. In the 1990s, the Air Jordan brand registered only the English version of "Jordan" in China. This is a common mistake that foreign companies make. China has a widespread problem where their citizens register well-known brands from around [...]
Disney drama reveals the depth of China’s IP problems
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Monday, November 28, 2016. China has long been depicted as a wild west for intellectual property rights. For decades it was famous as a pirate publisher and maker of knockoff products. The country has been trying to adopt a more law-based approach to IP, but problems continue to occur. The latest company caught up in this confusion is the Walt Disney Company. Disney licenses Disney Shanghai, an immense installation that opened this past June. As is customary, Disney gave the park exclusive rights to its characters. Imagine the consternation, then, when a competing theme park operator, Dalian Wanda Group Company, opened its new park ahead of Disney Shanghai - featuring classic Disney characters such as Snow White and storm troopers from the new Disney-owned Star Wars picture. Disney protested the infringement. The Wanda Group explained that the use of the characters [...]
DRESS UP AS A CELEBRITY—IF YOU DARE: How Right of Publicity Issues May Arise When Choosing Your Halloween Costume
By The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. Halloween 2016 is sure to bring some of the most entertaining pop culture costumes like the characters from Suicide Squad. These characters belong to DC Comics and costume companies that create and sell these type of costumes for profit must license out the intellectual property for each costume design from its respective owner. Then there are those costumes of real people like the presidential candidates, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, and Kim Kardashian West. Whether you exercise the right or not, everyone has the right to control their name and likeness for a commercial purpose. This is known as a right of publicity. California Civil Code Section 3344 protects a person's name, voice, signature, photograph, and likeness. This statute is in addition to the common law publicity rights. There are other public figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, that are in the [...]
7 MUST KNOW FACTS ABOUT U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 30, 2016. 1. What is a copyright? A copyright allows authors of "original works of authorship," such as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual property works to have a form of protection. 2. What are your rights granted under copyright? A copyright grants you many exclusive rights including: reproducing the work, creating derivative works based on the work, distributing copies of the work, publicly displaying the work, performing the work and performing the work publicly by means of digital audio transmission (for sound recordings). 3. What cannot be copyright protected? There are a few things that even copyright law can't protect. Ideas being one of them. Your latest billion-dollar idea will have no protection until the idea has been made into something original and tangible. Also making the list are fashion designs, methods, and systems. However, these may fall [...]
FASHION DESIGNERS HIT A ROAD BLOCK: Moschino and Roberto Cavalli Sued For Infringing on Street Art
By The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 30, 2016. Lately, fashion designers have been losing their artistic inspiration and instead have turned to grabbing the design work of others, specifically street artists. Italian Fashion house Moschino was sued by street artist Joseph Tierney, also known as Rime, for using his "Vandal Eyes" mural in Moschino's February 2015 fashion line. The brand also publicly flaunted the design on singer Katy Perry alongside Moschino designer Jeremy Scott at the 2015 Met Gala, an event that is highly publicized. Tierney claims that the dress constituted unfair competition and violated his publicity rights. Right of publicity is the right to control one's commercial use of their identity, including: name, image, and likeness. The case is currently ongoing, but we will soon see how the Court will decide unless the parties choose to settle beforehand. Another fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli, is having similar problems. Street [...]
PIKASUE NO MORE: RageOn Clothing Company and Pokemon Company Settle Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
By The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 23, 2016. RageOn, a Cleveland based t-shirt company, recently faced a copyright infringement lawsuit from Pokemon Company International for depicting their protected Pokemon characters on clothing. One character in question was Pikachu, dressed as a Hasidic Jew surrounded by piles of cash and renamed as Pikajew. Another shirt had a character called Jiggly Puff that was smoking marijuana. RageOn claimed protection under the fair use doctrine because their shirts are "clearly socially and politically-relevant commentary." However, the Court would have looked at the four factors of fair use: (1) the purpose and character of the use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market. The fourth factor would likely favor Pokemon Company since their family friendly characters are being tarnished, but we will never [...]
What every business needs to know about trademark basics
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Monday, June 13, 2016. If you run a business, you want your products or services to stand out to potential customers in order to maximize your sales and profits. Developing a trademark is one way that your business can accomplish this. Trademarks are protections for the name and marking a business will use for advertising and promotion. They are normally considered valid whether a trademark registration has occurred or not, but registering the mark with the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) offers extra legal protection, especially if a conflict arises where one of your competitors wants to use your mark. The PTO offers three options for applying for a trademark: Use application - An application solidifying the use of trademark names or logos that have already been in use Intent to use - An application presenting the trademark you wish to use before you actually start [...]
The Ashley Madison Hack: What Other Online Businesses Need to Be Aware Of
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Business on Wednesday, September 9, 2015. The recent leak of the names and other identifying information of 30 million users of the Ashley Madison website has intensified the discussion about privacy on the Internet. The Ashley Madison hack is the latest in a series of notable online data and privacy breaches. The nonprofit Identity Theft Center recently counted 519 data breaches so far this year, which have targeted businesses, government agencies, and other institutions. The result is that nearly 140 million records have been exposed. Some records are more sensitive than others. Ashley Madison is a website aimed to help married people have extramarital affairs. A hacker group that condemned the company's morals leaked the customer databases to various media and news outlets. Some news outlets have published names, while others have not. It is interesting to note that no 'reputable' news sources have [...]
Trump’s Breach of Contract Issues
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Business on Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Donald Trump's comments about immigrants may have negative legal consequences, but not if he can help it. Trump has sued the organization of celebrity chef Jose Andrés, seeking $10 million in damages for breach of contract after Andrés backed out of a deal to open the flagship restaurant in Trump's redevelopment of the historic Old Post Office Pavilion. Andrés, like other business owners, severed his connection with Trump upon hearing Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants. Andrés explained that working with Trump is "impossible" because Trump's comments and behavior made opening the Spanish restaurant "no longer viable." As Andrés himself is an immigrant from Spain who became an American citizen in 2013, and over half his team and many of his guests are Hispanic, Andrés argued that Trump burdened the business with his "inflammatory statement" and that he could [...]
Do I Really Need a Contract?
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Business on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. When you form an agreement with another person, you may wonder if, or why, you need a contract. After all, you know the other guy (or girl), and contracts seem so formal, like something lawyers made up. Perhaps you were recently asked to sign an agreement and wondered "Why doesn't this person just trust me?" Many couples choose not to have a pre-nuptial agreement for this very reason - it may be seen as reflecting a lack of trust in one's partner and it seems less romantic to plan for the possibility of divorce. While contracts may seem like an added burden to an informal relationship, they can clear up any potential discrepancies and help prevent future misunderstandings. Contracts generally define the parties to the contract, provide a list of agreed upon terms for the contract performance, and [...]