Tag: trademarks

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on by Michael Kahn
As I have stated before, the legal world offers up frequent new evidence in support of that hoary maxim: “Truth is stranger than fiction.” A copyright lawsuit over a farting doll? Check. A trademark registration dispute of the brand of a sucker (lollipop) for fans of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks? Check. And thus…
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More Thoughts on the Brave New World of X-Rated Trademarks

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Yes, you are looking at the one-word trademark whose registration dispute eventually reached the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had refused to register the FUCT trademark for apparel. The ground for refusal? Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which prohibited the registration of trademarks that were immoral or scandalous. Erik…
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From Covfefe to Aunt Jemima R.I.P.–Trademarks in the Era of Black Lives Matter

Posted on by Michael Kahn
In my day job as an intellectual property lawyer I’ve been blogging occasionally about the strange new world of trademarks that began three years ago with the explosion of trademark registration applications for the 7-letter typo in one of Donald Trump’s late-night Tweet complaints about what he claimed was “fake news.” Following that trademark silliness…
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Make America Naughty Again

Posted on by Michael Kahn
As many of my readers know, I haven’t been able to quit my day job. Fortunately, the focus of my day job is intellectual property law–a legal realm sprinkled with just enough quirky issues to keep my day job fun. One such example is the subject of my latest post on my law firm’s blog,…
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