Bagel v. Bagel, or Why You Can't Really Trademark Food

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Bagel v. Bagel, or Why You Can't Really Trademark Food

In order to be granted trademark registration by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the mark you’re seeking to protect must be distinctive. The more generic or common your mark is, the less likely it is to be granted protection. The USPTO reviews proposed marks on a sliding scale of descriptiveness in order to determine whether they should approve registration.

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Robin Wright Threatens to Topple House of Cards By Playing Hardball In Negotiations

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Robin Wright Threatens to Topple House of Cards By Playing Hardball In Negotiations

Normally I don’t recommend threatening the other party. If you don’t have the leverage to follow through on the threat it could backfire. But in this case, Wright (who is also a producer and director on the show) had two things going for her that made the tactic pay off. First, she knew she had the upper hand. She was too popular to simply replace with another actor and the bad blood resulting in her leaving the show and publicly bashing her former employer could’ve seriously impacted the show’s cache with its viewer base, maybe even killing it.

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Sweat The Business Stuff: What Type of Business Are You Running Anyway?

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Forming a business entity legitimizes you and your work in the eyes of your peers, clients, and professional network. You’re not just a person working alone in a poorly ventilated basement (although you may actually be that). You're a Business with real prospects and a real product or service. In other words, it makes you look credible.

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Copyright Versus Trademark: What’s the Difference?

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A few weeks ago, Taylor Swift (yes, her again) filed for trademark protection (again) for various catchphrases related to her latest album, 1989, such as “This Sick Beat” and “Swiftmas.” Even though musicians do this all the time for merchandising purposes, for some reason it’s particularly newsworthy when Swift does it. But what grabbed my attention this time wasn’t the inexplicable backlash she got (if Ed Sheeran had done it, would people have been so quick to judge?), but the factually inaccurate headlines that went along with it.

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I’m Thankful For YouTube Protecting Its Users From DMCA Takedown Notices

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There’s no arguing the internet has changed the way we find, process, and regurgitate visual and written content. It's occurring at an exponential rate, and regular people (and artists) need protection from copyright holders who have the power and ability to dictate policy merely because of their deep pockets.  Well the good news keeps on coming (for once!) because YouTube’s owner, Google, is promising to protect regular users if and when they need legal help.

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