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Revised Version: Will Athletes’ Right-of-Publicity Claims Transform College Sports?
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
After I originally published this column, the Third Circuit reversed a district court decision throwing QB Sam Hart’s case against EA Sports out on First Amendment grounds. I rewrote the affected part of the column. Here it is: If you want to ignite a flame war on a sports message board, start a discussion about Read the full article…
Will Athletes’ Right-of-Publicity Claims Transform College Sports?
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
If you want to ignite a flame war on a sports message board, start a discussion about whether college athletes deserve to get paid. The courts are about to make big decisions in this area. While it’s unlikely, the results could transform college sports. The headline lawsuit is a class action filed by former UCLA Read the full article…
Recent Developments with the Coming New Domain Names
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
Here’s an update on recent developments with the new generic top-level domain names: What’s this About? Within the next year or so, perhaps over 1000 new generic top-level domains are supposed to launch. In Netspeak, a generic top-level domain is a “gTLD.” A gTLD is the part after the last dot, like .com or .net. Read the full article…
FTC Sets Rules on Twitter Advertising
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Do you use Twitter to promote your business or its products or services? If so, let’s take a test on whether a promotional tweet complies with the law. Suppose you make swim fins and you hire Olympian Ryan Lochte to tweet good things about your product. Would it be OK if he sent this tweet Read the full article…
I Could Have Typosquatted ICANN in a Bad Way
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
If I was willing to be a typo squatter, I could typosquat ICANN at a pretty sensitive place. Earlier today I blogged about the coming opening of the Trademark Clearinghouse. Here is an earlier post in case you need some background. The domain name and website for the Trademark Clearinghouse is www.Trademark-Clearinghouse.com. I noted in Read the full article…
Trademark Clearinghouse About to Launch
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
By now, you should have heard of the new generic top-level domain names (“gTLD’s”). A gTLD is the part of the domain name after the last dot, such as .com. Perhaps over 1000 new gTLD’s will launch, with some launching in the next several months and with a continuous rollout of new gTLD’s lasting a Read the full article…
Irony: ICANN Didn’t Have Best Domain Name for Trademark Protection Service
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
Well, this is a hoot! ICANN just launched the website from which it will operate its Trademark Clearinghouse. In a nutshell, it’s a place where owners of registered marks can record their mark registrations and get certain preferences when the new domain names roll out. I’ll blog more about this recent development later. What’s funny Read the full article…
Is Facebook Just a Lie Detector for Lawsuit Participants?
Wednesday, February 20th, 2013
The attorney in me wonders whether Facebook is really just a big lie detector – a site where people undermine their lawsuit claims with stupid and embarrassing posts. Consider this whopper: In a recent, federal sexual harassment case in Colorado, the plaintiff claimed she was called a certain bad name – a four-letter, derogatory, slang Read the full article…
How to Contact an Attorney for the First Time
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
What’s the best way to contact an attorney for possible legal representation? Some approaches can cause problems or scare off the lawyer whose services you seek. Thus, a few suggestions: 1. Call rather than sending an email. Don’t start with sending an email describing your situation. Doing so creates two problems. First, an attorney needs Read the full article…
Try the Government’s New, Free IP Assessment Tool
Monday, September 24th, 2012
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently launched a free online tool that enables businesses to identify and learn more about intellectual property (“IP”) issues that may affect them. You should give it a spin. The tool is located at www.USPTO.gov/inventors/assessment. In it, you answer questions about your business’s situation and, afterward, it provides information Read the full article…
