Advertising can take many forms, including statements about a company’s products on websites and social media platforms. A wrong step can result in serious consequences, including legal challenges from competitors, consumers, the Federal Trade Commission, and other regulatory agencies.

In this 60-minute webinar, designed exclusively for in-house counsel, you will learn how you can protect your company against legal challenges based on its advertising practices. You will also learn what options are available if your competitors are making false or misleading statements in their advertisements.… More

While all eyes have been trained on the confirmation hearings from last week, the Supreme Court made news in the IP world. The Court granted certiorari in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew (Nos. 19-1434, -1452, -1458), a decision analyzing the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl. 2. In Arthrex, a panel of the Federal Circuit held that the statutory scheme for appointing administrative patent judges (APJs) of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board violates the Appointments Clause.… More

On June 30, amidst the traditional flurry of end-of-term opinions, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the first case to have been argued before it via teleconference, United States Patent and Trademark Office et al. v. Booking.com B.V.  In addition to making history in the remote-work era, this case caught the attention of trademark lawyers and some mainstream media;… More

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Trademarks – or brands – can be among a company’s most valuable assets. Some companies have enormous marketing departments focused on branding, while others have a single social media intern, but every company that provides goods or services is branding them somehow. Whether it’s your company name, specific product names, a logo, or something more unique, your business probably owns atleast one trademark –… More

On April 27, the Supreme Court took us on a stroll down memory lane in its decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., referring us back to its very first copyright case and revisiting the government edicts doctrine for the first time in more than a century. The Court, applying logic from Wheaton v. Peters, along with Banks v.… More

Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided a trademark damages question that has long divided courts across the country.

For decades, a trademark owner’s chances of recovering an infringer’s profits in litigation varied depending on where the case was pending.  The Lanham Act allows an award of an infringer’s profits “subject to the principles of equity” – but what does that mean?  Can an unknowing infringer be on the hook for its profits,… More

Benjamin Franklin famously said that “nothing in this world can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans to turn a crisis into a business opportunity.”  That quote may not be entirely accurate, but the U.S. federal trademark register serves as a historical record of this entrepreneurial spirit, from the various applications related to 9/11 in the wake of that tragedy,… More

Edward Teach, more popularly known as Blackbeard, roamed the seven seas and terrorized merchant vessels off the U.S. and Caribbean coasts during the colonial period.  He ultimately met his demise when the colony of Virginia breached the sovereignty of neighboring North Carolina and hunted him down along the shores of the Outer Banks.  Three hundred years have since passed, and another case of state sovereignty arises as a result of the actions of Blackbeard,… More

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) officially kicks off tomorrow, February 7, 2020, with a week’s worth of captivating runway shows from top designers.  The timing, however, could not be worse, since the 92nd Academy Awards is airing on February 9th, dead smack in the middle of Fashion Week.  Due to this scheduling snafu, designer Tom Ford, who styles top actresses walking the red carpet at the Oscars,… More

Reviewing Cases in 2019 to See 20-20 in 2020

Who said there’s no looking back? It is crucial to consider key takeaways from the most important IP cases from 2019 when planning ahead for the new year. Foley Hoag presents a webinar offering guidance on what we learned last year and what to prepare for in the new year.

Our speakers focus on 2019 developments in trademark, copyright,… More

Last week, Foley Hoag Partner Josh Jarvis joined John Welch, Author, TTABlogger and Counsel at Wolf Greenfield & Sacks; Alexandra Roberts, Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law; and Daniel McKinnon, Head of Global Brand Protection and Senior Counsel at New Balance, for a spirited discussion regarding “failure to function” – the threshold question of whether a purported trademark actually serves,… More

Spooky Stories of Useful Bananas, Judicial Intervention in the Candy Aisle, and the Urge to Run Away and Join the Halloween Circus

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Whatever the intent of the original song, I find it resonates most for me when cold air is just starting to move in rather than when it’s fully settled, and when yards are merrily bedecked in zombies rather than reindeer.… More

As commerce becomes increasingly electronic and decentralized, manufacturers and brand owners face new challenges in protecting and enforcing their intellectual property rights in the context of online marketplaces. IP owners, courts and the marketplaces themselves are struggling to define fair, effective and efficient approaches to protecting IP rights and consumers without hindering the free flow of online commerce.

Foley Hoag presents a webinar covering recent developments and best practices for companies seeking to protect copyrights, patents, trademarks and other IP rights against infringement in online marketplaces.

Topics Discussed

• Legal enforcement mechanisms available in the U.S. and significant foreign markets for combating IP infringement in online marketplaces
• Strategies for addressing ephemeral or difficult-to-identify marketplace sellers
• Safe harbors that protect marketplaces and how to deal with the challenges they present for enforcement
• Antitrust risks associated with collaborating with online marketplaces and others to block the sale of infringing products
• Best practices for working with marketplaces to establish an efficient and proactive policing and enforcement program

Speakers

• August Horvath, Partner & Co-Chair, Advertising & Marketing Practice
• Philip Swain, Partner, Registered Patent Attorney, Patent Prosecution, Strategy and Management Practice
• Natasha Reed, Counsel, Co-Chair, Trademark, Copyright & Unfair Competition Practice
• Jenevieve Maerker, Counsel, Trademark, Copyright & Unfair Competition Practice

The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Foley Hoag are pleased to invite you to an open roundtable discussion with USPTO officials Meryl Hershkowitz (Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Operations, United States Patent and Trademark Office) and Larry Stanley (Interlocutory Attorney, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board).

Topics will cover a range of USPTO trademark operations, procedures, and policies, including the recent and upcoming changes to representation of foreign applicants,… More

The picture you see is of a shirt from my husband’s closet – a gift I gave him a few years ago.  He is a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan, and this is sort of an inside joke for OSU football fans.  The word THE superimposed on the shape of the state of Ohio, in scarlet and gray, instantly calls to mind Ohio State.  For some reason I have never grasped,… More