How Do You Like Them Apple (Trademarks)? Malus Musings on Brand Protection

With “spooky season” dominating October holiday talk, it’s easy to forget poor old National Apple Day or simply Apple Day, which took place last Saturday and is observed every October 21. According to Wikipedia, one can celebrate Apple Day in any number of ways, from “apple games in a garden to large village fairs with cookery demonstrations, games, apple identification, juice and cider, gardening advice, and the sale of many hundreds of apple varieties.” Those activities are all well and good – and I fully appreciate that “bobbing for apples” wasn’t listed because,… More

WEBINAR: The Metaverse and Beyond: 10 Trademark & Copyright Tips for Consumer Products Companies

How do companies develop, protect, and enforce their brands and content across the ever-growing landscapes of Web 3.0? Lawyers from Foley Hoag’s Trademark, Copyright & Unfair Competition practice discussed 10 tips including best practices, emerging trends, recent case law, and potential pitfalls for companies navigating the metaverse and beyond.

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WEBINAR: Top IP Cases in 2022

Who said there’s no looking back? It is crucial to consider key takeaways from the most important IP cases in 2022 when planning for 2023. Foley Hoag presented a 60-minute webinar on Thursday, January 19, 2023, offering guidance on what we learned last year and what to prepare for in the new year.

Our speakers focused on developments in trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret law.

Speakers:

  • Paul Downs,…
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Five Trademark Questions to Ask in the New Year

As we ring in 2023, sip some champagne and make a resolution to check in on your trademark portfolio more often.  It misses you!

Here are a few productive questions to ask:

  1. Do your registrations cover your reality?  You may have launched new brands or drastically redesigned your logo since you last interacted with the USPTO.  Or perhaps your business has expanded or evolved,…
  2. More

WEBINAR: Legal Ethics for In-House Attorneys Handling Copyright, Trademark & Advertising Matters

Ethical duties are paramount in any legal practice. Matters relating to copyright, trademark and advertising law give rise to some special ethical considerations. Even unintentional missteps can be detrimental to the attorney, and their client.

In this 60-minute webinar, designed for in-house counsel, we discussed how to identify and address ethical issues to guard against potentially irreversible consequences.

Topics

  • Oaths filed with the Patent and Trademark Office,…
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WEBINAR: Trademark and Advertising Basics for Cannabis Companies

Business is booming for cannabis ventures, but the legal landscape for brand protection and product advertising is rife with complications that demand special consideration. Companies should be paying attention to these issues out of the gate.

Foley Hoag presented a webinar covering a range of topics related to cannabis trademark protection and promotion of cannabis-related goods and services, including:

  • Maximizing trademark rights at the federal and state level
  • Leveraging alternative IP strategies for brands
  • Advertising best practices and what not to say
  • FDA regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products
  • CBD,…
  • More

WEBINAR: Top IP Cases in 2021 In-House Counsel Need to Know

Who said there’s no looking back? It is crucial to consider key takeaways from the most important IP cases from 2021 when planning for 2022. Foley Hoag presented a 60-minute webinar on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, offering guidance on what we learned last year and what to prepare for in the new year.

Our speakers focused on developments in trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret law.



Speakers

WEBINAR: Copyright Basics for the Generalist In House Counsel

What does the generalist in-house counsel need to know about copyright? While patents and trademarks often receive the lion’s share of an organization’s intellectual property focus, copyrights comprise a critical third prong to a healthy overarching IP strategy – even for companies whose products and services involve little or no content creation.

Foley Hoag LLP presented a webinar offering guidance for in-house counsel regarding copyright law, including the basics of U.S.… More

WEBINAR: 13 Social Media Pitfalls to Avoid for the Generalist In-House Counsel

Social media platforms present countless opportunities for companies looking to connect to consumers and clients in real time. But, like so much else in our connected age, these opportunities come with a host of risks ranging from minor public relations blips to unpleasant regulatory run-ins with government agencies, and from DMCA takedowns to right of publicity lawsuits.

Foley Hoag presents a 60-minute webinar offering guidance on social media issue spotting for in-house legal practitioners,… More

Webinar: Protecting Product Configurations, Packaging and Designs: What In House Counsel Needs to Know

Product configuration and packaging play an integral part in consumer choice and can often set a particular product apart from its competition on the store shelf. Because companies heavily invest in creating unique product designs and packaging that encourage brand association, business owners should also consider protecting those investments as intellectual property.

This webinar offers guidance for in-house counsel regarding the different types of intellectual property that may protect product configurations and packaging in the United States,… More

API Copying Now Fair Game in the Wake of Supreme Court’s Decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc.

The decade-long dispute between Google LLC and Oracle America Inc. has now ended with the Supreme Court ruling 6-2 in favor of Google.  This dispute concerned Google’s use of Oracle’s “declaring code” – software that provides a list of functions and definitions that specify the parameters of application program interfaces (APIs) – in Google’s Android operating system.  APIs allow different software programs to work together.  In creating Android,… More

Webinar: Trademark Transactions for the Generalist In-House Counsel

Your company has invested in developing its goodwill and protecting its brands, and now seeks to bring in partners. Or perhaps your company seeks to grow by on-boarding third-party brands. Trademarks form a key asset in many business transactions, but overlooking important details and traps for the unwary can lead to unintended consequences. In this one-hour webinar, we cover the fundamentals of protecting trademark rights in the context of an array of transactions,… More

A Tale of Two Gorillas: An Underdog (Under-Ape?) Story

DK

March 8 was, according to questionable sources, National Retro Video Game Day in the US.  As one of Foley Hoag’s several resident video game nerds, this reminded me of one of my favorite video-game-related IP disputes.

In the 1970s, a nearly century-old Japanese playing card company called Nintendo started to branch out into electronic gaming, and in 1979 started a coin-operated arcade gaming division. … More

Webinar: Top IP Cases in 2020 In-House Counsel Need to Know

Looking Back to Look Ahead

Who said there’s no looking back? It is crucial to consider key takeaways from the most important IP cases from 2020 when planning for 2021. Foley Hoag will present a 60-minute webinar on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, offering guidance on what we learned last year and what to prepare for in the new year.

Our speakers will focus on 2020 developments in trademark,… More

Out With The Old, In With The Gatsby Sequels: Trademark and Copyright News for the New Year

Most of us were thrilled to see the calendar turn to 2021 on January 1, closing the chapter on what was an extremely challenging year around the globe. Now that we are a month into the new year, and the fireworks have faded and the noisemakers are packed away, we take a moment to highlight a few notable developments in the IP world that made a somewhat quieter entrance on the scene when the clock struck midnight.… More