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Lessons for All Businesses Found in Stone Brewing Company’s Trademark Fight
Tuesday, February 20th, 2018
Craft brewer Stone Brewing Co. recently sued MillerCoors for trademark infringement. Stone Brewing, which has a brewpub in Richmond, claims its STONE trademark is being infringed because MillerCoors lately has been calling its KEYSTONE LIGHT beer just STONE. MillerCoors recently redesigned the KEYSTONE LIGHT beer can to emphasize the word “STONE.” “STONE” now runs the Read the full article…
Can the Police Force You to Unlock Your Phone?
Tuesday, January 16th, 2018
What can your face do for you? In Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, he muses that Helen of Troy’s face was so beautiful that her abandonment of her husband and elopement triggered the Trojan War and the launching of a thousand ships. A classic Timex watch commercial from the 80’s shows an ugly woman’s face cracking all Read the full article…
Don’t Claim Popular Phrases as Trademarks, and Be Careful Using Them in Advertising
Wednesday, December 20th, 2017
Attempting to cash in on a popular phrase is risky. Think twice before applying to register a popular phrase as a trademark, and do your homework before selling goods or branding services with a popular phrase. Remember the 2015 terrorist attack on the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hedbo? In its wake, “Je Read the full article…
Could your business be banned from public contracting because of your views on controversial issues?
Sunday, November 26th, 2017
Could your business get banned from public contracting because of something controversial posted by someone associated with your business on social media? For example, what if a member of your senior management posts a strong view on Facebook either for or against illegal immigration? Could someone in the government ban your firm from competing for Read the full article…
Should Your Business Seek a Trademark Registration on a Hashtag?
Monday, October 16th, 2017
In 2012, McDonald’s launched a Twitter marketing campaign based on the hashtag “#McDStories.” It wanted customers to tweet about good times at McDonald’s. Unfortunately for McDonald’s, negative tweets such as these stole the show: “Dude, I used to work at McDonald’s. The #McDStories I could tell would raise your hair.” “Fingernail in my BigMac Once Read the full article…
Can Politicians and Businesses Legally Block People on Social Media?
Tuesday, September 19th, 2017
The Tweeter in Chief, President Trump, was sued in July by a group trying to force him to stop blocking critics on Twitter. For that reason, a pair of recent decisions addressing politicians and social media by a federal trial judge in Virginia are getting attention. Those decisions were made by United States District Judge Read the full article…
Tales of Woe from Companies That Reposted Pictures on Instagram Without Permission
Thursday, July 27th, 2017
Does your business use Instagram to promote itself? If so, beware that posting on Instagram photos taken by others could be copyright infringement. First, some technology: Instagram does not provide a way for users to “repost” pictures posted by others on Instagram. There is a workaround. You can screenshot on your phone a picture from Read the full article…
Website Owners: The Rules for Protecting Yourself from Copyright Infringement Liability Just Changed
Tuesday, July 18th, 2017
In business, your company faces many risks. If you try to manage every risk, you won’t have time or money left to make your product or provide your service. You have to decide which ones to address and how much to pursue them. With that in mind, consider a new legal risk to any business Read the full article…
The Slants Channel The Producers, and Win One for the Redskins
Tuesday, June 20th, 2017
An ethnic-minority rock band just saved the REDSKINS federal trademark registrations from cancellation. Ironic, no? Whenever people hear about the recent Supreme Court case concerning the Asian rock band The Slants, they think about the Washington Redskins, because that case saved the trademark registrations for the REDSKINS name. Not me. I think of the classic Read the full article…
Things You’ll Wish You Had Done When Your Star Employee Defects
Wednesday, May 17th, 2017
When a key employee defects to a competitor company, it’s Judgment Day for how well you have prepared for such a possibility. If you prepared well, you might be able to crush the defection. You might even prevent it from happening. But if you haven’t, there may be little you can do to protect your Read the full article…
