Free Newsletter
Ruff day in court: Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy. In announcing the decision for a unanimous court, Justice Elena Kagan was in an unusually playful mood. […]
Everyone’s Carolina
In a case of dueling dentists, the state Business Court has found that the word ‘Carolina’ is something to be shared.
Stop being like Mike
Michael Jordan is taking a trademark dispute with a Chinese sports firm to China’s highest court. Last month the representative for the Hall of Fame basketball player said China’s supreme court will be taking the case of Jordan, along with several others, accusing local firms of imitating global brand names. Jordan brought a lawsuit against […]
Pizza pretender
When the yellow shield logo hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s a trademark violation.
Intellectual Property – Trademark Infringement – Civil Practice – Res Judicata & Collateral Estoppel
Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Von Drehle Corp. Plaintiff has filed a number of suits around the country alleging that defendant or its distributors infringed plaintiff’s trademark when they sold paper towels designed to fit into plaintiff’s enMotion paper towel dispensers. Plaintiff’s claim in this case is precluded by decisions in other courts that defendant’s actions d[...]
Intellectual Property – Trademark Infringement – Radio Farm News – Other Uses – Laches Defense
Ray Communications Inc. v. Clear Channel Communications Inc. Although plaintiff communications company, which registered the Agrinet service mark in 1972 and has used it for radio broadcast of farm news, acknowledges it permitted certain uses of the Agrinet mark in some local markets by predecessors of defendant Clear Channel Inc., the district court erred in granting defendant summary ju[...]
Civil Practice – Venue – Transfer – ‘First-Filed’ – Special Circumstances – Settlement Negotiations – Breakdown – Intellectual Property – Trademark & Copyright Infringement
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. v. Overseas Direct Import Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-04-0103, 9 pp.) (Richard L. Voorhees, J.) W.D.N.C. Holding: The parties were engaged in settlement discussions, and when those settlement discussions broke down, it was reasonable for plaintiff to expect defendant to file a trademark and copyright infringement action; in fact, defendant had […]
Intellectual Property – Trademark-Infringement Claim – Priority – Prior Use – Corporate Dissolution – Federal Registration – Abandonment
Daniel Group v. Service Performance Group, Inc. Even though defendant's predecessor-in-interest, an Illinois corporation, was dissolved for nearly five years before defendant was incorporated in North Carolina, the shareholders of both corporations continued to use the . . .
Ethics Committee nixes lawyer’s Web marketing strategy
Internet marketing is nothing new, but a few attorneys in North Carolina are trying a tactic that has caught the attention of the N.C. State Bar. It works like this: A lawyer purchases a keyword or a phrase though Google's AdWords service so that when a consumer types in that keyword or phrase, the attorney's ad pops up on the screen along with the search engine results. Attorney J. Mark Wilson (p[...]
Intellectual Property – Trademark Infringement – Paper Towel Dispenser
Georgia Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Von Drehle Corp. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-01-0787, 26 pp.) (Hamilton, J.) No. 09-1942, Aug. 10, 2010; USDC at Raleigh (Boyle, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: In this dispute over defendant von Drehle’s sale of allegedly inferior paper toweling for use in “touchless” paper towel dispensers designed by plaintiff Georgia Pacific […]
Top Legal News
- Cooper allows budget to become law; Medicaid will expand
- Alabama fraternity faces hazing lawsuit
- Judge handling Trump case faces tremendous pressure
- VIDEO: 5 Questions With … Jan E. Pritchett
- Conflicted Appeals Court affirms removal of Superior Court clerk
- NC transgender health case might go to high court
- Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes
- Alabama redistricting case before Supreme Court
- Band leader: ‘Doing my job’ when arrested
- Court orders part of abortion referendum rewritten
- VIDEO: Counsel’s focus firmly set on reproductive rights
- Lawsuit faults Google Maps in deadly crash
Commentary
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Court’s term was rough on big business
- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- A roadmap to attracting, developing, retaining great associates
