Cool Gear filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Spencer Gifts and Spirit Halloween Superstores for selling cups incorporating Cool Gear’s three-dimensional skull covered by its copyright registration. The skull qualifies as a three-dimensional work of visual art and is entitled to copyright protection and registration. Indeed, Cool Gear is the…
In another example of the problems caused by using your own name as a trademark (e.g., Van Halen trademark lawsuit and Joseph Aboud trademark injunction), Roger Cleveland Golf Company, Inc. and Dunlop Sports Co. Ltd. filed a trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution case against Callaway Golf Company. In…
Eddie Van Halen’s company, ELVH, Inc., has filed suit in Los Angeles federal court seeking damages and a court order preventing Kelly Van Halen, Eddie’s ex sister-in-law, from using the Van Halen surname on her clothing line and merchandise. ELVH alleges that the brothers began using the Van Halen trademark…
Adidas is suing numerous apparel, clothing, and shoe sellers for trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution, and counterfeiting, including two defendants that previously settled similar allegations and are now accused of breaching the settlement agreement by continuing to sell allegedly infringing sportswear. Adidas is the owner of numerous U.S. Patent…
Yogitoes LLC is a Los Angeles based developer of yoga related inventions, including Skidless® yoga mats and absorbent yoga towels and mats. Yogitoes is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 6,961,969 (“the ‘969 Patent”) for an invention titled “Absorbent Towel With Projections.” Yogitoes’ patent covers a mat or towel with…
Several purse trade dress infringement lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles over the last couple of years (see Linea Pelle lawsuit, Marc Jacobs lawsuit, and Givenchy lawsuit) as designers try to protect their handbag designs from being copied. With a little bit of careful planning and foresight, designers can…
Fashion designer brotherly love – or hate – is demonstrated through a trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, defamation, libel, and slander lawsuit between brothers Brian Lictenberg and Christopher Lichtenberg and their respective companies. Brian alleges to be a successful designer and his designer…
Defendants in questionable infringement cases should rejoice because another judge has dismissed – with prejudice – at the early stages of litigation a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against NBC’s Animal Practice television show. The litigation lasted longer than the seven weeks the show was on the air before being cancelled.…
Consumer reports, through Yahoo, has an informative and interesting article on the trademark selection process for cars. It correlates well with my article on selecting a strong and enforceable trademark for your goods and services. The process begins with numerous proposals that are whittled down to the top few, which…
Producers of the “Bullet” movie will attempt to dodge a lawsuit filed by Nicholas Lyon for copyright infringement, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, promissory fraud, intentional interference with contractual relations, and unfair competition. Lyon contends that he entered into an agreement with American…