Companies go to great lengths to protect their trademark. An action for trademark infringement under the Lanham Act also includes claims that a party is selling counterfeit goods using another party’s trademark. Those are serious claims and if found liable can result in severe statutory penalties. “To prevail on its claims under the Lanham Act
There have been recent news articles about settlement agreements reached in patent litigation cases called “Pay-for-Delay”. “Pay-for-delay” deals are agreements between generic and patent-holding pharmaceutical companies, where the patent-holding drug maker compensates the generic manufacturer if the generic manufacturer agrees to refrain from marketing the generic version of a drug past the expiration of the
Representing a religious nonprofit corporation can be challenging. I was involved in litigation when a nonprofit religious corporation terminated a member of this congregation in violation of the bylaws and basic employment law. The issue became whether the courts would hear this case or abstain citing the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. This doctrine states that “Religious
Harris Faulkner, a six-time Emmy winner and famous Fox News anchor, is suing Hasbro over a toy hamster that shares the same name and likeness. Hasbro is a multinational toy company, responsible for creating famous products such as G.I. Joe and Mr. Potato Head. The product is called the “Harris Faulkner toy hamster”, much to
When Colorado passed state laws that legalized marijuana, a new industry opened up and boomed. On the federal level, marijuana is still considered an illegal narcotic, but so far the feds have not tried to overrule the state’s power on this issue. However, the Hershey’s Company wants nothing to do with the new lease on
Generally, a company will have its upper management employees sign a non-compete agreement, but will not require the same of lower level employees. However, the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s has decided to go its own direction with its non-compete agreement, which has caused some controversy. New hires, whether they are an executive or a sandwich maker,
On November 13, the Los Angeles Superior Court frustrated Mattel’s motion to dismiss a $1 billion trade secret lawsuit, which was filed by MGA Entertainment. The lawsuit was filed because MGA accused Mattel of spying on it and other companies for years at toy shows. This decision is just one part of a long-standing legal feud
Hothead’s game app Kill Shot is beating Glu Mobile’s game app, Deer Hunter, by eight spots in a list of Apple’s top-grossing games for the iTunes App Store. However, Hothead could lose to Glu Mobile in a copyright and trade dress infringement lawsuit. The argument by Glu Mobile is that the games are identical, except that Kill Shot
John Wayne was one of the most iconic actors in American cinema history, famous for his walk, talk and good looks. He was also famous for his moniker “The Duke”, a childhood nickname that followed him even after he became a celebrity. Currently, John Wayne’s family is looking to sell a line of Kentucky bourbon
We have been closely following the unfolding of the Apple and Samsung patent infringement case. Previously, we discussed how Apple is suing Samsung for $2 billion on the grounds that the latter infringed on Apple’s patents, such as slide-to-unlock, word correction, contextual links, universal search and data syncing. Samsung responded by calling to the stand
