Social media is an excellent way to present your brand to new and existing customers. Much of commerce takes place online, and social media allows you to effectively market goods and services affordably. As others share your posts and products, new customers see your brand. Like much of the Internet, however, it is difficult to […]
Widerman Malek Law Blog
The Feds Win!
The Voice of America was created in 1942. It became famous during World War II when radio emcees would broadcast news, songs, updates and even propaganda to US and Allied citizens, and also to listeners in “enemy territory” who could pick up the broadcast signal. By the end of World War II, they provided content […]
Hints and tricks to help you register your first trademark
You’ve got a great idea on a new product or service and you know exactly what you want to name it. Because you’re sure this will be your name, you might think that one of the first things you do is to register the trademark. But in reality, rushing to be first might not always […]
Where is Ski Town USA?
Most people think of Ski Town USA as Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation trademarked the name in 1959. Earlier this year, in order to entice more skiers to their city, the Visit Salt Lake organization started a campaign urging people to visit Ski City USA. They advertised that once you visited […]
Film Director Terry Gilliam Sued For Alleged Use of Street Mural in His New Film ‘Zero Theorem’
On August 12, 2014, the film director Terry Gilliam was sued over a mural painting in his latest movie, The Zero Theorem. A group of street artists, two from Argentina and one from Canada filed the lawsuit claiming the alleged plagiarizing their mural in Argentina. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Illinois and […]
The Fight Over Mickey
Approximately twenty years ago, Joel Zimmerman, a young teenager, was working on his computer when it suddenly quit working. Smelling something burning, Joel opened up the computer only to find a dead mouse inside. Inspired by this somewhat gruesome incident, he created the stage persona of Deadmau5 (pronounced dead mouse)! Zimmerman is a DJ and […]
The History of Who Dat???
Who Dat!”- The supporting cry for the New Orleans Saints is actually trademarked by a few San Antonio musicians. In 1983, Steve and Sal Monistere recorded their own version of “The Saints Go Marching In” with a “who dat” chant in the song and shortly thereafter trademarked both the “Who Dat!” And “Who Dat?” phrases. […]
Patent and Trademark Office Closed on March 3, 2014
USPTO Closed on March 3, 2014 due to weather.
Why Dumb Starbucks Made A Dumb Trademark Move
When the Dumb Starbucks store showed up late last week in Los Angeles, there was a lot of media attention on it. One defense that I heard in the media was that it was a parody of a Starbucks store and, therefore, it was probably ok. That’s not exactly the case.
Game Developer Candy Crush Stirs up Protests Over “Candy” Trademark
In recent years, we are seeing common words being trademarked that borders on ridiculous. How can common words that are used in every day language and useded in hundreds of brand products be trademarked? One such recent example is game developer King.com attempts to trademark the word “Candy” for their Candy Crush game. Is this […]
