In class this week we talked about the black letter trademark law rule: 

Valid trademark licensing requires quality control.

Easy to say, but what does it really mean?

What is "quality control"?  We got around that rather easily.  We don't care about the quality, only the control.

But how much control is needed?  Well, experience and case law preaches this: not much.  As I've said before, how can the Chicago Cubs control quality over the logo on licensed baseball caps, if they can't control the quality of a baseball game? 

A joke of course, but still . . .will the ...   more »

Chicago Lawyer, October 2005, article by Tom McCann features Mark Partridge on recent development in IP and the Internet:

"Internet Provides Rich Ground for Evolving IP Law."

Tribune Internet critic Steve Johnson writes, "Google Bombs put searchers on the wrong path," available here. 

Johnson provides a fun take on google bombing, stating:

These results show up because people who followed their parents' advice to study computer science instead of English literature have analyzed Google and other search engines and figured out that they can be manipulated.

See article for more.

This week in class we talked about the prohibition in Section 2 of the Lanham Act on registering trademarks based on the name or depiction of a living president or a dead president during the life of his widow (yes, the statute still says "his widow"). 

So this story is apropos:

"Clinton Finds Himself on Cover of Condom Packs"

Perhaps he was hoping for the cover of Rolling Stone.

In recent months I've met with many former students and new attorneys who have asked for advice on developing an IP practice.

I meet this request with mixed feelings.  First, what do I know?  As any practicing lawyer is likely to say, I'm still practicing.  I've got a long way to go.  On the other hand, I've been at this some 24 years.  So. . .

I've commented here before about how to get started.  Advice to a Young Attorney.

Moving to the next step in private, you should think about building business.  Here are some book titles I've ...   more »

This blog was started in August 2004.  My sincere thanks to all of you who have been coming to the site over the past year.  From time to time I hear from some of you telling me that you appreciate the site.  Your kind words make the effort worthwhile.

Some of the good things over the past year are:

1.  Several posts have been selected by www.circleid.com for republication.  I'm flattered.

2.  Matthew Holmann at [non]billable hour noticed early on and invited my comments for his five by five post on IP.  Thanks Matt.

3.  Several other great ...   more »

"Can you afford to be right?" is a question confronting many small businesses faced with litigation.

Sandra Swanson reports on small businesses facing trademark litigation in an article entitled "David v. Goliath" in Crain's Chicago Business, August 8, 2005, with sidebar by Emily Bryson York.

The conflicts identified include:

ScottEVest challenged by IBM ("e" typeface).

You're Fired, a Glenview pottery studio, concerned about Donald Trump.

Improv Olympics, challenged by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Note: Online access to article requires registration.

The World Is Flat (Farrar, Staus and Giroux 2005), by best-selling author, Thomas L. Friedman, is important reading for those of us trying to "sort out" the effects of globalization on intellectual property rights.

Friedman discusses the "flatteners" of globalization, recognizing the international tensions arising from the politics of IP rights (p. 218):

"Who owns what?" is sure to emerge as one of the most contentious political and geopolitical questions in a flat world . . . If you are in the business of selling words, music, or pharmaceuticals and you are not worried about protecting your intellectual property, you are ...   more »