Over the years, we have written about many trademark-related concepts and many times we have referenced the consequence of “abandonment,” referring to the penalty that a trademark owner may suffer from not adhering to trademark formalities. But what does it mean for a trademark to go abandoned and under what circumstances does it occur? What Causes Trademark […] The post Abandonment … How Does It Happen? first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

Dear Doc: Political campaigns seem to have become entertainment, featuring musical introductions, interludes between speeches, and soundtracks to commercial spots. But what if a musical artist disagrees with the positions of the sponsor of the event? Can she prevent the use of her music entirely, or charge a very high royalty, which she then donates […] The post Ask Dr. Copyright® About Political Campaigns and Music first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

Cast your mind back to your earliest memory.  Mine is of little green bottles of Coca-Cola on the back seat of our Plymouth, out of gas, somewhere in southern Indiana.  Now think about your grandfather’s earliest memory.  I’m not sure what my grandfather’s first memory was, but Grover Cleveland was President and the Wright brothers […] The post Earliest (Patent) Memories first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

By now, we are all familiar with the term “deepfake.” If you are not, the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language defines “deepfake” as a “video that has been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness convincingly with that of another, often used maliciously to show someone doing something that he or she did not do.”  Over a year […] The post Deepfake Regulation: It May Just Happen first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

In the May and June newsletters, we wrote about a proposal by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Schedule I substances are considered to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.  Possession and sale of cannabis is illegal under U.S. federal […] The post Cannabis Rescheduling: Over 43,000 Weigh In first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

Your team created a new invention, say, for a vending machine that dispenses bullets.* The patent law requires that the name of each “inventor” be listed in the patent application and the inventors’ names are included on the issued patent.  Being an inventor on a patent can be a huge feather in the cap of an employee.   […] The post Who is an ‘Inventor’? first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

The past few years have witnessed astonishing growth in commercial interest in the use of psychedelics for treatment of a variety of unmet medical needs, particularly mental health disorders.  With that growth has come an increase in patent filings as companies seek to protect their investments.  IP protection for psychedelics and psychedelic-related compounds shares many […] The post IP Protection of Psychedelics first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

The Olympic Rings The modern Olympics is replete with symbols, many of which are wrongly ascribed to the ancient games. The most obvious is the five interlocking Olympic rings, which were “invented” in 1913 by Pierre de Coubertin, then-President of the International Olympic Committee. Some authors have ascribed the rings to an ancient inscription on […] The post Marketing the Olympics – Stay Out of Trouble first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

Dear Doc: In the United States, you can register just about any trademark on just about anything. Marks that are not okay in foreign countries (like place names such as “champagne”) are routinely used and registered in the USofA. Why, then, did the Supreme Court nix registration of the mark “Trump Too Small”? Signed,Rube Marko […] The post Ask Dr. Copyright® About ‘Surname’ Trademarks first appeared on Adam G. Garson, Esq. | Lipton, Weinberger & Husick ..read more

Policing trademarks is as important as registering them.  Policing requires that you monitor the world of commerce to ensure that others are not using your marks — or confusingly similar marks — and, if so, that you take immediate action against the infringers. There is little point in owning a trademark if you are willing to grant infringers free rein to use your trademark and benefit from its goodwill. Enforcing the trademarks, however, must be done with care, particularly in this era of social media when messages offending someone’s sensibilities can spread like wildfire and ult ..read more