Monthly Archives: August 2018

Creative Trademark Enforcement Part V: Cease-N-Desist

Over the past few years, we have seen numerous instances of companies protecting their trademarks in creative ways – approaches that leverage humor and the brands themselves in order to achieve an acceptable legal outcome while simultaneously promoting the company and its brands, thus minimizing the risk of public relations blowback. In this “Creative Trademark Enforcement” series of blog posts, I’m continuing to explore some of the more interesting takes on this approach,… More

“Forest of Light” Trade Dress Claim Nixed; Trademark Claim Survives

Picture yourself at dusk along the river, walking through a massive outdoor art installation featuring tens of thousands of individually-placed spheres of light on short stalks, reminiscent of blooming flowers. Ok, now stop and answer this: what kind of intellectual property would you use to protect this installation?  If you answered “trade dress,” you get a frowny-face sticker, at least according to the Eighth Circuit’s recent opinion in Munro v.… More

Massachusetts to Adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act

With H. 4732 (and amendment H. 4868) sitting on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s desk, Massachusetts is finally on the verge of adopting the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”).  The UTSA was published by the Uniform Law Commission in 1979 and amended in 1985, at which time many states began adopting it.  New York, and possibly North Carolina and Alabama (there is some debate about whether their legislation has expressly adopted the text of the Act),… More

Copyright Office Denies Protection for “Unique” Product Packaging

If you are having trouble obtaining a federal trademark registration for a product’s packaging, some lawyer has probably mentioned to you that copyright protection is a potential alternative or supplement. This is good advice – to a point. Copyright registration is relatively cheap, nobody will pester you about secondary meaning or use in interstate commerce, and you don’t need consumer confusion evidence to prove infringement. However, when it comes to creative expression,… More