Advocacy of body camera policing reform has been growing in the United States in response to a widespread and increasing distrust of law enforcement among minority communities.[1] Body camera reform advocates have supporting statistics on their side. In 2014, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), with support from the Department of Justice, published the report, Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program:… read more
A few months ago, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that taste cannot be copyrighted. The case arose between two competing cheese dip makers: Levola and Smilde. Levola, a Dutch company, owns the intellectual property rights to ‘Heskenkaas,’ a spreadable cream cheese and fresh herbs dip. Levola alleged that Smilde, another Dutch company, infringed its copyright on… read more
On July 6, 2018, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí (the Dalí Foundation) filed a complaint in in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that the Dalí17 Museum misappropriated Dalí’s name and likeness in its logo in order to advertise and promote the museum and that Dalí17 illegally reproduced and displayed copyrighted artworks online. The Dalí Foundation… read more
Bud Light (which currently boasts a 1.23/5 rating on RateBeer.com) is known for being cheap; light on calories and flavor; and, according to their most recent spate of commercials, advertising, and packaging, having absolutely nothing to do with corn syrup. This is in contrast to its competitor MillerCoors, who it alleges uses corn syrup in both Miller Lite and Coors… read more
In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court tackles the issue of whether individuals still retain an expectation of privacy in their location information when they “share” that information with third party providers. The case began in 2010. After several RadioShack and T-Mobile stores were robbed, police arrested four suspects. Timothy Carpenter was one of the suspects. Under the Stored… read more
On March 31, 2019, representatives from 143 universities around the globe gathered in Washington DC to participate in the 60th edition of the world’s largest international moot court competition, the Philip C. Jessup competition. Among the various public international law issues canvassed during oral proceedings, one international intellectual property issue in the moot problem raised a particularly thorny matter. On… read more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s determination that ReDigi and its founders, by operating its e-commerce platform for the lawful resale of legally acquired digital audio files, had infringed plaintiffs’ copyrights under Title 17. A Fight over Semantics: What counts as a “Phonorecord”? And what counts as a “Reproduction”? I think that digital… read more
Fake trademark specimens have become a significant issue at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”). Over the past few years, the USPTO has had to deal with an increase in the number of fake specimens submitted with trademark applications, particularly those made by Chinese applicants. In the United States, trademark registration is use-based. An applicant must provide… read more
Have you ever received a bunch of annoying promotional e-mails and let them stuck in your inbox because you hardly find the “unsubscribe” button in the e-mail? Or have you ever made a hasty choice because your heart is trembling fast when an “Only 1 room left!” notification appears in a travel website? If that were the case, then most… read more
This past fall, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was the Netflix Original that everyone was talking about. This show reimagines the world of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (a popular show released in the 90’s) with a new, dark spin. In this version of the show, Sabrina must choose between joining the world of witchcraft that her family belongs to and… read more