Pamela Chestek
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Most Excellent Conference
Yesterday there was a conference devoted to my favorite topic, Ownership and Control of IP Rights. What a shame it was on a different continent so I couldn’t attend. Luckily, the IPKat summarizes it here, here and here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
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What is SALBA and Who Owns It?
For me, Ralston v. Salba Corp. was one of those “whoops, keep an eye out for that next time” kind of cases. Note to self – in the future, check for a reversionary right in the property being licensed. Plaintiffs William and Richard Ralston and Great Western Tortilla Co., a company that had been owned… Continue reading
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No Surrender Boys!
There’s an awesome dust up down in San Antonio over the ownership of the trademark THE ALAMO. You sort of think that ownership would be settled by now, but apparently not. An application to register the mark for “museum services, namely, exhibiting to the public a historical site” was filed by the Daughters of the… Continue reading
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Color Me Puzzled
It’s a routine trademark infringement suit over both parties’ use of the mark VANTAGE. Plaintiff Vantage, Inc. is the owner of a pending application for VANTAGE, which has been opposed by the defendant Vantage Travel Service, Inc., the opposition now stayed. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on a § 43(a) claim, a state… Continue reading
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Meet Those Who Blog
The wait is over – we have the Official Announcement from the TTABlog for this year’s Meet the Bloggers (VI, for those keeping count), although we are still anxiously awaiting the moniker assigned this year by the Trademark Blog (back story here). Yours truly has the honor of co-hosting this year, still riding the coattails… Continue reading
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“New Discovered” Doesn’t Mean “I Just Now Went Looking”
American Plastic Equipment, Inc. claimed to own the copyright in toy action figures first manufactured by Louis Marx & Co. Defendant Toytrackerz, LLC made replicas and was sued. In its original decision (blogged here and here), the court found that there were two defects in American Plastic’s chain of title. The first break was in… Continue reading
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Who Is the Real Florida Tea Party?
A Florida lawyer is sending threatening letters claiming others cannot say they are the “Florida Tea Party,” based on his registration of it as a political party. The recipients filed a declaratory judgment action on trademark theories. Complaint here. Reuters coverage here. South Florida Tea Party, Inc. et al versus Tea Party, S.D. Fla. 10:cv-80062-KAM… Continue reading
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Case Not to Miss
It’s a small point, but an important one: The recording of a [patent] assignment with the PTO is not a determination as to the validity of the assignment. However, we think that it creates a presumption of validity as to the assignment and places the burden to rebut such a showing on one challenging the… Continue reading
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The Devil’s in the Details
The Seattle Trademark Lawyer blogs about a newly-filed suit over a dispute about the ownership of the “Angels” name and show content for a Pussycat Dolls tribute band. The complaint says coyly that the defendant Goldberg Entertainment “engaged” the plaintiff Kristen Colliander (um, “employed”?), that the defendant purchased the website “kristencollianeli.com” (Ms. Colliander’s stage name)… Continue reading
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Zorro a Preview to Steamboat Willie?
There’s a somewhat puzzling complaint newly filed in the Northern District of California. Zorro Productions, Inc. (ZPI) filed an unfair competition suit against Mars, Inc., maker of M&M’s candies, and its advertising agency, BBDO Worldwide, Inc. The complaint alleges that ZPI is the owner of all rights, including without limitation, trademarks and trade dress, both… Continue reading
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