Author Archives: mwillee

Innovation is what spurs tech companies to the top of the proverbial pile, but, once there, some seem to lose that innovative spirit, relying instead upon their accrued power to stay atop the marketplace. Instead of coming up with new ideas, it’s easier to simply buy up the innovative companies out there, or perhaps justContinue reading “Instagram Facing Trademark Lawsuit Over New Reels Feature”

What right does any company have over names that are similar only due to that company’s sheer size and ubiquity? It’s true that certain brands can be evoked not only by their name and logo, but by an entire subcategory of similar designs and conventions, but should that be the case, from a legal perspective?Continue reading “Prepear’s Fortunes Go Pear-Shaped With Apple Trademark Objections”

In cases of infringement, intent is irrelevant to the substantive facts of a case. Either something infringes upon a copyright or trademark or patent, or it doesn’t; whether the accused meant to do it or not changes nothing. Still, it probably matters to our ideas about justice and recompense as to whether intent existed orContinue reading “Taylor Swift Alters Logo to Avoid Trademark Infringement”

For some products, form matters as much as function, if not more so. With something like, say, your lawnmower, the aesthetics aren’t so important as long as it performs the work of cutting your grass. But your car? Your car says something about you, given how much you might be investing in it. And itContinue reading “Ferrari Loses Its Trademark Rights To Iconic Car”

At the risk of sounding glib, has any company fared better during the pandemic relative to its prospects otherwise than Zoom? Amazon has done well, sure, but Amazon will always do well. Zoom, on the other hand, has gone from useful to vital in a period of months, and probably more accurately in a periodContinue reading “Zapier and Zoom In Trademark Scuffle Over Zaps”

There is broad philosophical debate, dating back to the dawn of the advent of tools and other implements manipulated by humans, as to freedom and agency as it regards their use. Plenty of tools are designed to be used for the betterment of the species, and are far more frequently used as such, but canContinue reading “RIAA Makes DMCA Claims Against Github Over Video Download Software”

It’s become fairly evident over the past several years that, given enough time, every show you ever loved will return in some fashion, whether that be as a sequel featuring a far-older cast than you remember, or as a rebooted property for a new generation to enjoy, or at least watch. Perhaps it’s a mixContinue reading “TV Reboot Draws Copyright Claim From Original Writer”

What makes laws work, or at least what should, is that they are or are at least meant to be prescriptive. Violators should know what they did, and what the punishment for the violation should be, in order that they not offend again. Short of that, the system falls apart; people continue to violate theContinue reading “Twitch Offer No Explanation To Users For DMCA Takedowns”

The advent of modern fandom has perhaps blurred the lines of IP ownership, at least in the minds of fans. I don’t mean to suggest that die-hards are under any apprehension that they hold the legal rights to any aspect of the properties they love so dearly; rather, it’s a type of spiritual ownership thatContinue reading “Nintendo Shuts Down Fan-Made Zelda Game on Copyright Grounds”

Trademark opposition seems to be the new “it” thing for major companies; more accurately, opposition that would be termed to be in bad faith is the new hot trend in the IP space. You need not look very far back in the archives of this blog to see a spate of similar stories, and whileContinue reading “Rockstar Games Throws Trademark Opposition at Ax Throwing Business”