News & Analysis as of

Trade Dress Copyright

Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP

Gone from Copyright: Ninth Circuit Rejects Copyright Protection for Iconic “Eleanor” Shelby Mustang

Court Narrows Scope of Character Copyright, Drawing Sharp Line Between Props and Protectable Expression - Not every film icon gets legal protection. On May 27, 2025, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Eleanor—the legendary Mustang...more

International Lawyers Network

Different Kinds of Cool That Still Just Don’t Register: Why Birkenstocks & Melted Rink Ice (AKA Water) Aren’t Copyrightable

In 2015, the Wall Street Journal observed why Birkenstock sandals might be considered cool: “It’s a taboo thing,” said New York-based stylist Brian Coats, who dresses Jimmy Fallon....more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Shoe Dupes Walk a Fine Line After Recent IP Infringement Case

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Dupes of original branded items present significant intellectual property (IP) challenges in the fashion industry. Not all fashion products are entitled to IP protection and perceived similarities between products do not...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Beyond Utility: How to Protect Corporate Value with Design Patents

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Utility patent protection is typically the first thing that comes to mind for protecting a product; however, such protection may not be available when the product has been on the market a long time or is dominated by...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 1) — No Infringement Intended Podcast

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In this episode, Austin Padgett and Rusty Close delve into the intellectual property battle between cooler giants YETI and RTIC. They explore how YETI created a lifestyle brand of coolers and drinkware, and how RTIC brazenly...more

ArentFox Schiff

Design Disputes: Unraveling the Tapestry of Legal Trends for Litigation in the Furniture and Design Worlds

ArentFox Schiff on

In the fast-paced and competitive world of furniture and design, where partnerships and innovations flourish, but consumers’ attention is increasingly divided, legal disputes are increasingly common....more

McDermott Will & Emery

Untwisting the Fixation Requirement: Flexible Rules on Moveable Sculptures

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s dismissal of a claim of copyright infringement for kinetic and manipulable sculptures, finding that movable structures were sufficiently...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

FAQs: Wine Industry Intellectual Property Protection

For wineries, managing intellectual property (IP) is crucial to maintaining brand identity and protecting creative investments. While general IP principles apply across many sectors, wineries face unique challenges and...more

Kaufman & Canoles

K&C Sports & Entertainment Law Weekly Roundup - October 2024

Kaufman & Canoles on

Lawyers involved with a proposed multi-billion-dollar settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences filed documents on Thursday that included small, but potentially...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Andersen v. Stability AI: Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Narrows the Case, But Only Slightly

In the lawsuit brought against them for using visual artists' work to teach their large language model, and producing near-identical copies in response to prompts, Stability AI, Midjourney, DeviantArt, and Runway AI moved to...more

ArentFox Schiff

Reflecting on the Interplay Between Real Estate and Intellectual Property in 2023 - Landmark Trademark Cases and Copyright...

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As 2023 came to an end, it offered a prime opportunity to examine significant legal developments in intellectual property case law and implications for the real estate industry in the year to come. Among other things,...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

U.S. Supreme Court Alert: If you copy an unpatented furniture design, does that help prove that the design was iconic and...

Womble Bond Dickinson on

Furniture manufacturer admits intentionally copying designs, asks Supreme Court, What does copying really say about trademark status of design? While offering a new design for sale without obtaining a patent often means...more

Vondran Legal

Don’t Forget to Protect Your Product Packaging and Product Designs With IP

Vondran Legal on

Your products and product designs are the life blood of your business. However, many companies don’t think about protecting their creative product designs, and product packaging with intellectual property registrations. This...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Lanham Act Liability May Apply to Copyrighted Material

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that liability under the Copyright Act and liability under the Lanham Act are not mutually exclusive and that liability under the Copyright Act does not negate trade dress...more

Pierce Atwood LLP

IP Rights in Virtual Fashion: Lessons Learned in 2022 and Unanswered Questions

Pierce Atwood LLP on

There was a lot of talk and much hype about the “metaverse” in 2022. While some were skeptical and stayed on the sidelines to watch, many companies began offering virtual counterparts to their real-world products for use by...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Tableware Designer Gets Heavenly Results on Its Pearly Plates

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court decision, reversing the dismissal of a copyright claim based on lack of standing and finding ownership of the copyright in the claimant based on an...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Intellectual Property Tools for Protecting Fashion Goods

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Just as every piece of artwork is unique, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to protecting your fashion goods with intellectual property tools. Below are three possible situations in which you can use intellectual...more

Knobbe Martens

Choosing the Right IP to Protect Fashion Goods

Knobbe Martens on

It’s hard to be a fashion innovator. It’s far easier to be an imitator. Success requires enormous investment in creating and marketing new designs, with no certainty that the designs will succeed. The imitator merely needs to...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

Protecting Product and Packaging Designs in China Part I – Trademarks

Quarles & Brady LLP on

Like the United States, China offers protection for 2D and 3D designs of products and packaging, which is often known by U.S. consumers and practitioners as “trade dress.” This four-part miniseries of posts provides a...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Anatomy Of A Beer Label: Part III

Husch Blackwell LLP on

In addition to the regulatory requirements imposed on beer labels, as discussed in the Anatomy of a Beer Label: Part I on COLAs, and the intellectual property protection offered by trademarks, as discussed in the Anatomy of a...more

Morgan Lewis

Protecting Automotive and Mobility Brands

Morgan Lewis on

Automotive and mobility manufacturers boast some of the most well-known brands in the world, but imitation isn’t a form of flattery for companies trying to protect their valuable marks. As the automotive and mobility market...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Practice Tips for Combating Counterfeiters: An Action Plan for Brands, Manufacturers and Retailers

The harm caused to brands by counterfeiting goes far beyond loss of sales or profits. Fake goods jeopardize public health and safety when a brand’s trademark is applied to a sub-standard and potentially harmful product. This...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Overcoming Intellectual Property Exclusions In Insurance Policies

A key challenge for policyholders seeking coverage under commercial general liability, directors and officers and other insurance policies is the presence of the so-called “intellectual property exclusion.” In a typical...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - May 2020: Banana and Pencil: A Tale of Two Circuits

Three years ago, the Supreme Court announced a seemingly simple separability test for determining whether features of a useful article are eligible for copyright protection in the landmark decision Star Athletica v. Varsity...more

Knobbe Martens

Pencil Shaped Chalk Holder Is a Non-Copyrightable Idea

Knobbe Martens on

Lanard Toys Limited v. Dolgencorp LLC, Ja-Ru, Inc., and Toys “R” US - Before Lourie, Mayer, and Wallach. Appeal from the District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Summary: A useful article is not copyrightable...more

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