Happy Birthday, You’ve Been Sued I’ve found that it often comes as a surprise that somebody owns the rights to the “Happy Birthday” song (its complete name is “Happy Birthday To You.”) The fact that a part of our common cultural heritage – and an element of countless fond memories – is a piece of intellectual property that is under the control of a multinational corporation, Warner/Chappell, the publishing arm of the Warner Music Group, can seem like one of the more absurd twists of IP law. Nonetheless, Warner claims to own the rights, and it generates annual licensing fees…
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Keep it Legal Blog
Coach v. Flea Market
June 13, 2013
Coach v. Flea Market Last weekend, my wife and I joined some friends for our first trip to the Rose Bowl Flea Market – with 2,500 vendors, it’s billed as “the world’s most unusual flea market” and “the shopping place of the stars.” While everything I saw looked authentic, I was on the lookout for knockoff goods because flea markets have made some legal news lately. On May 31, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on whether a flea market owner can be liable for contributory trademark infringement in the case of Coach Inc. v. Goodfellow.
Craft Beer Trademark Battle Resolved: Magic Hat v. West Sixth
June 6, 2013
Brewery Battle Resolved My faithful readers know that I like to follow legal developments in the craft beer trademark world. I’m a fan of the product and a supporter of one of San Diego’s fastest-growing business sectors. As an aside, I’ll throw in a promotion for my good friend Omar Passons’ Craft Beer Debates – tonight’s event is sold out, but these are worth following for anyone interested in craft beer and/or discussions of issues impacting the San Diego community. Back to our regular programming: news broke today that a raging dispute between two (non-SD) breweries, Magic Hat and West…
Can I Mention My Competitor in an Ad?
May 30, 2013
Can I Mention My Competitor in an Ad? We’ve all seen countless ads where a company compares their goods or services favorably to those of their competitors. Where does this cross the line and run into a false advertising issue? H&R Block recently sued Intuit (a San Diego-based company, of course – Go Padres! – wait, does it seem like I’m playing favorites here?) over a pair of commercials that suggested that Intuit’s TurboTax tax professionals were better trained and more experienced than those at H&R Block and other retail tax outlets. So how far can you go in this…
