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Category: Whimsical (page 4 of 4)

The force is strong with Star Wars intellectual property

December 3, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 18, 2015.  It will be the biggest movie of the year.  It will also likely be the most infringed copyrighted work of the year (and 2016, too).  It will be the seventh official full-length Star Wars movie to be released in theaters since 1977.  Though I recently re-watched the prequels and I would prefer to act as if they did not exist.  No matter what revisionist history might try to argue.

Since the original movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, George Lucas has not been shy about protecting his intellectual property rights.  It is practically a running joke that any reference to Star Wars will expose you to a lawsuit from Lucasfilm or Disney.  (The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for $4,000,000,000 in October 2012 and immediately announced plans for a new set of Star Wars movies using the same characters and settings.)

To demonstrate just how sincere the creator of the Star Wars universe is about protecting his creation, his characters, the movies, the settings, the concepts and the ancillary names, brands and logos – the following is a summary of the notable issues relating to Star Wars intellectual property.

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Did Panem infringe trademarks or violate publicity rights by using Katniss Everdeen’s image as the “Mockingjay”?

November 24, 2015 / / Comments Off on Did Panem infringe trademarks or violate publicity rights by using Katniss Everdeen’s image as the “Mockingjay”?

Last weekend, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 made over $100 million at the box office.  The movie’s success is largely due to the strength of Jennifer Lawrence and the popularity of the books.  Enough digital ink has been spilled discussing the movie as a dystopian political outlook for young adult audiences.  Instead, here we repurpose the world of Panem as if it adopted the intellectual property laws currently in the United States.

 Accordingly, under that hypothetical, what trademark and publicity rights does Katniss Everdeen have?  Did the rebels and/or the nation-state of Panem violate or infringe any of these rights by exploiting her image as the “Mockingjay”?

 [mild spoilers ahead, proceed with caution if you have not seen the movie]

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The TTAB is now openly trolling the Washington Redskins

November 17, 2015 / / Comments Off on The TTAB is now openly trolling the Washington Redskins

Remember a couple weeks ago when the Washington Redskins submitted a laundry list of registered trademarks that its counsel contended were offensive or disparaging?  And remember when that same week the makers of “Nut Sack Double Brown Ale” beer were granted a federal trademark registration over similar objections?  You should – I wrote it on the paper.

Now another beer maker has been granted what I will call a questionable trademark registration.  One that I am sure would have been listed right at the top of the Washington Redskins’ bad name list.  LEFT NUT BREWING COMPANY is now a federally registered trademark.  Really.  On November 13, 2015, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board reversed the decision of the trademark examining attorney and granted the registration.

I am sure that Daniel Snyder is handling this news with calm, cool reflection.  Or whatever the exact opposite of that is.

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Twelve Angry Men to determine whether the Indianapolis Colts infringed Texas A&M’s “12th Man” trademark rights

November 13, 2015 / / Comments Off on Twelve Angry Men to determine whether the Indianapolis Colts infringed Texas A&M’s “12th Man” trademark rights

On Thursday, November 12, 2015, Texas A&M University filed suit against the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts[1] alleging infringement and dilution of its various “12th Man” trademark rights.  If this sounds familiar or redundant, remember that A&M previously sued the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks for unauthorized use of the same trademarks nearly a decade ago.  A&M eventually settled that matter with the Seahawks, with the NFL franchise agreeing to pay a license fee to A&M.  The actual terms of that license and settlement were never made public and Seattle continues to use variants of the “12th Man” name today.

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Is Your Halloween Costume an Infringement?

November 8, 2015 / / Comments Off on Is Your Halloween Costume an Infringement?

[originally published on October 28, 2015 at www.law-dlc.com]

Halloween is on a Saturday this year.  I am anxious to see people of all ages walking around in full costume.  What a wonderful time of year.  Halloween is fun – and it brings out the creative side in almost everyone.  People will be dressed as superheroes, villains, cartoon characters, pop culture icons, scary monsters, and more.  But most of these costumes you will see represent characters that were created by someone else.

Is your Halloween costume infringing someone else’s intellectual property rights?

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What if Intellectual Property Rights Were Enforced in the World of “The Princess Bride”?

November 8, 2015 / / Comments Off on What if Intellectual Property Rights Were Enforced in the World of “The Princess Bride”?

[originally published September 25, 2015 on www.law-dlc.com]

Have you ever watched a movie and wondered whether something cool in it could be patented?  Many movies, however, are set outside the United States.  Some are set in fantasy lands that would not recognize our system of laws.  Yet – what if?  What if, for example, the mythical country of Florin happened to adopt the laws of the United States as it applies to intellectual property rights?  Yes, Florin.  The homeland of Buttercup.  You know – The Princess Bride. What if the cowardly Prince Humperdinck recognized and enforced patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret concepts as seen in that movie?  Inconceivable, you say?  But what would that look like and what would be some examples?

[If you have never seen The Princess Bride, kindly stop reading and go watch it.  Now.  I do not think I can be friends with anyone who does not like this movie.]

I will skip the kissing parts and go right into the action and adventure.  Pirates are cool, right?  To the land of Florin we go!

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