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University Color Schemes Qualify for Stand-Alone Trademark Protection

February 11, 2009

by Melissa LaBauve (Haynes and Boone)

In an unprecedented recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that a lower court was correct in upholding a finding of summary judgment that granted stand-alone trademark protection to universities’ school color schemes. In Board of Supervisors for Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College v. Smack Apparel Co.1, several universities, including Louisiana State University (“LSU”), Ohio State University (“OSU”), the Universi...

Tags: Trademarks

The Challenges of Logo and Image Searches on the Internet

April 1, 2009

by Curtis Krechevsky (Cantor Colburn)

Historically the Internet developed as a text-based (typewritten character) system.  Everyone by now is familiar with entering keywords in Internet search engines and reviewing the results to find relevant information.  For brand protection purposes, from both a marketing and legal perspective, the Internet works very well in locating both authorized and unauthorized uses of word trademarks.  In turn, this permits brand owners to effectively monitor and police the proper use of their valuab...

Tags: Internet Law, Trademarks

Ninth Circuit Limits the Scope of In-Term Covenants Not to Compete

February 9, 2009

by Adam Tullman (Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton) and
Jennifer G. Redmond (Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton)

In Comedy Club v. Improv West Associates the Ninth Circuit held that an in-term covenant not to compete (a covenant that continues during the term of a contract or relationship) in a Trademark License agreement was overbroad, but enforced a more limited version of the covenant. The Court held that while there is no exception in California's law against non-competition agreements for in-term covenants not to compete, they may be valid, at least in the context of a "franchise like" agreement. Def...

Tags: Trademarks, Licensing, Trademark Licensing

Brave New Web: Trademark Rights in the Expanding Internet

April 28, 2009

by Kimberly K. Smith (Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton)

  In June 2006, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a plan that will allow private parties to create custom online domains. These domain names may be anywhere from 3 to 63 characters long and in nearly any alphabet, such as Arabic or Chinese. The Internet currently operates using 12 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to direct traffic.  The more common gTLDs include .com, .org, and .gov,  of which "dotcom" is by far the most popular. The draft plan was releas...

Tags: Internet Law, Trademarks