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Parody Products Get a Big Win in Court. Will They Proliferate? Can You Stop Them?
Thursday, August 20th, 2026
A recent court decision made parody products less legally risky. Will they proliferate? When can you stop others from parodying your business’s products? VIP Products, the maker of the “BAD SPANIELS” rubber dog toy, recently defeated the intellectual property claims made against it by the maker of Jack Daniel’s whisky. The dog toy is shaped Read the full article…
Your Employees Created It with AI. Your business May Not Own it.
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026
AI might save your business time and money, but could using it prevent your company from obtaining enforceable IP rights in what it creates? Arkansas recently became the first state to enact a law giving AI users ownership of AI outputs. The law provides that the person who creates the AI prompt owns the output, Read the full article…
Don’t Count on False Advertising Law to Protect Your Innovation
Thursday, May 21st, 2026
Let’s say your business is the first to launch an innovative product, and you achieve great sales success. And you inspire a knockoff: a competitor later begins selling practically the same thing but claims in its advertising that its product is “innovative” or the “first of its kind.” You worry that this will hurt your Read the full article…
The Supreme Court Just Made Online Copyright Enforcement Harder
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026
A recent Supreme Court decision is a win for internet service providers and those engaged in online piracy. How will it affect other businesses? Cox Communications provides internet, telephone, and cable television services to over six million subscribers across the country, including in Virginia. Some use its internet service to download music illegally, which is Read the full article…
College Football’s New MVP: the NIL Contract Exclusivity Clause
Thursday, February 19th, 2026
It’s a crazy world when you need a law degree rather than a playbook to fully understand what’s happening in big-time college football. Let’s look at the instant replay of a recent Duke University lawsuit against quarterback Darian Mensah. Business owners and employees can learn valuable lessons from it. In January, Duke sued Mensah, alleging Read the full article…
Did Elon Musk Let the Twitter Brand Fly Away?
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026
When Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X, did his rights in the Twitter brand fly away, opening the door for someone else to hatch a new Twitter without his permission? This issue is currently incubating in federal court in Delaware and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Any businesses considering rebranding should watch Read the full article…
The Supreme Court Case that Could Raise Your Internet Bill or Let Piracy Run Amok
Monday, January 5th, 2026
Ponder this question: You run a business that provides internet access to many people, such as a company, coffee shop, or hospital. Of course, some people use it to access pirated content, such as NFL games or movies. Are you at risk that your internet service provider (ISP) will cut off your business even though Read the full article…
The First Settlement in a GenAI Training Case Has Implications for Content Creators and Business Users
Wednesday, September 17th, 2025
The first-ever monetary settlement in a generative AI (“GenAI”) copyright infringement case was recently announced. Anthropic, maker of the Claude GenAI, agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion, reportedly the biggest settlement ever for a U.S. copyright infringement case. The settlement concerns the use of pirate databases – places where illegally made copies of books Read the full article…
Act Before the Breakup: Use a Contract to Keep Your Brand Whole
Wednesday, September 17th, 2025
Let’s start with a Richmond-connected trivia question: What was the greatest hit of the 1990s R&B three-girl group JADE? In 1992, the song sold 1.5 million copies and was certified “gold” by the Recording Industry Association of America. Answer at the end. JADE consisted of Joi Marshall, Tonya Harris (who used the stage name Tonya Read the full article…
What Will the New American Revolution of Limiting the Power of the Regulatory State Mean for Businesses?
Wednesday, June 18th, 2025
A new American Revolution is going on in the Supreme Court. In recent years, it has issued four major decisions curtailing the power of the regulatory state. In March, it heard oral arguments in a fifth case. What does this trend mean for businesses? This harkens back to the Declaration of Independence. In it, the Read the full article…
