When you see a tattoo on someone’s body, you probably wonder what the significance of the tattoo is. Some people use tattoos to honor family members, like Lebron James’ portrait of his son on his forearm. Others get tribal tattoos, like Mike Tyson’s famous face tattoo. You might want to ask a person why they got their tattoo, but you would likely never ask: “Do you own the copyright to that tattoo?”
Read MoreNetflix started out 2019 with a fresh Trademark lawsuit filed over their “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” film. The film has been a big hit as Netflix took advantage of the strong following their original series, Black Mirror, already had. Bandersnatch allows viewers to dictate the story line and ultimately decide the ending. There are several different choices that can be made throughout the film with the main character setting the scene early on in the movie, and coincidently for this lawsuit, by informing his father that a videogame he wants to create is based on a fictional “’Choose Your Own Adventure’ Book.” Unfortunately for Netflix, Choose Your Own Adventure books are very real, and the owners of the book series brought suit against Netflix for trademark infringement and dilution.
Read MoreWhen you go to a Sonic in Portland, you have a certain expectation that the tater tots and frozen drinks are going to taste the same as they do in Atlanta. And you expect the Sonic employees’ uniforms to be the same in Dallas as they are in Orlando. These expectations for Sonic and all Sonic franchises can be traced back to Section 5 of the 1946 Lanham Act.
Read MoreIf you own Intellectual Property and find out that someone is using it without your permission, your first instinct would be to send them a cease and desist letter to end the infringing use, right?. But, what happens when that infringing user brings a lawsuit against you in a court far, far away?
Read MoreCollective membership marks are a lesser known species of protectable marks—they do not indicate commercial origin of goods or services, rather, their purpose is to "indicate that the user of the mark is a member of a particular organization." Think social clubs, or motorcycle “gangs.” Read about the recent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board case, Devil's Desciples v. Woodard.
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Last month, a California jury awarded $25 million in damages to Steven Lamar in his lawsuit against Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Specifically, Lamar claimed that he brought the idea for celebrity-endorsed headphones to Dre and Iovine in 2006 and, pursuant to a later settlement agreement, that Lamar was entitled to over $100 in damages for unpaid royalties. Read more to learn how the jury decision came down, as well as takeaways about drafting settlement agreements.
Wise businesses will carefully patrol the line between patents and trade secrets, which is not always an easy task. While disclosing more information helps strengthen a patent, you lose trade secret protection by making that information public. On the other hand, if you can hold back key technology, you might gain perpetual trade secret protection. A recent California case, Waymo v. Uber, highlights this very tension.
Read MoreRes Nova Law is ready to ride into summer, and we're shining our Portland Business Spotlight on Castelli, a legendary Italian cycling apparel company rooted in Portland, Oregon. We spoke to Greg Cowan, the president of Castelli USA, to learn more about Castelli's presence in Portland.
Read MoreLast year, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in TC Heartland put a stop to forum shopping in patent infringement suits. This blog post explores what proper venue looks like in a post-TC Heartland landscape.
Read MoreIf you've ever collaborated on a creative work, you might know that issues of copyright co-ownership can get murky very quickly. This article will give you a broad overview of the copyright implications of collaborating with others on creative works, and how you might be able to avoid disputes over copyright ownership.
Read MoreThe key to protecting your company's proprietary information is straightforward: you have to keep it a secret. While this may seem simple in concept, maintaining the confidentiality of a trade secret can be difficult in practice. Check out our list of steps your company can take to keep its trade secrets secret.
Read MoreWe're celebrating Women’s History Month and shining our Portland Business Spotlight on Shop Adorn. We had the pleasure of sitting down with co-owner Nicole Whitesell to learn more about how Shop Adorn got started and grew to where they are today.
Read MoreThis February, Res Nova Law is celebrating Black History Month and shining our Portland Business Spotlight on Red, White & Black, a film production business founded by Oregon’s first recorded black winemaker, Bertony Faustin.
Read MoreTo learn how a pioneering Portland company manages its intellectual property, we chatted with Shawn Small, a mechanical engineer and the owner of Ruckus Composites. Ruckus Composites uses science, cutting edge technology, and their own inventive techniques to repair carbon fiber bicycle frames.
Read MoreFor many business owners, a fresh new year means a fresh new “look and feel” for their business—including updated websites, logos, branding, or product packaging for 2018. In the legal world, we refer to the look and feel of a business as its “trade dress.”
Read MoreFresh year, fresh you! This January, we are pleased to shine our Portland Business Spotlight on Flux Salon, a woman-and-stylist-owned hair salon with the fun philosophy that happy hair equals happy people.
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