Zachary Landow is a J.D. candidate, 2021, at NYU School of Law. On September 11, 2019, a routine cargo inspection at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) led to the discovery of 28 counterfeit NBA championship rings. The rings were intended to be shipped from China to Arizona, and the agents who made the discovery believe that the rings were to… read more
Anastasiya Kryukova is a J.D. Candidate, 2021 at NYU School of Law. With the growth of the internet and the increasing prevalence of online shoppers, platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba have become significant players in the current-day marketplace. With the internet becoming a central, relied-upon hub for day-to-day activities and transactions, there are an array of problems that… read more
Kiana Robinson is a J.D. Candidate, 2021 at NYU School of Law. The sportswear and athletic footwear company Adidas has been having quite a busy year defending the three-stripe mark in American and European courts. In August 2019, the company filed a Notice of Opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) against J.… 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
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
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
On April 15, Malcolm L. Stewart, Assistant Solicitor General of the United States, in keeping with a centuries-old tradition, wore a morning coat to argue before the Supreme Court of the United States.[1] His role was to argue that the U.S.P.T.O. need not register the trademark of a skate brand called “FUCT.” Over the course of the oral argument, it… read more
Traditionally, the main purposes of trademark law are consequentialist by nature. They are to reduce consumer search costs and to create incentives for producers to invest in product quality. If the source of a good is unclear or confusing, then markets will function less efficiently because consumers will expend wasteful resources searching for goods of a particular quality and producers,… read more
On November 6, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (“GSUSA”) filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America (“BSA”) alleging, most notably, that BSA’s use of its SCOUTS and SCOUTING marks and derivatives thereof in connection with services offered to both boys and girls infringes GSUSA’s GIRLS SCOUTS marks. Both GSUSA and BSA offer leadership development… read more
On September 28, 2018, Judge Louis L. Stanton, U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against a café and gallery space previously known as MoMaCha. He ruled that the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is likely to succeed on the merits for its claims that the café infringed on its trademark name and… read more