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Absolute Confusion: Did the Supreme Court Blunder in Raising the Bar for Trademark Parodies in Jack Daniel’s?

Absolute Confusion: Did the Supreme Court Blunder in Raising the Bar for Trademark Parodies in Jack Daniel’s?

September 26, 2024 |  By: Daniel Davis & Alex Butterman   In Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a chewable “Bad Spaniels” dog toy shaped like a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey violated Jack Daniel’s trademark rights. VIP claimed its dog toy was First Amendment free speech… Continue reading Absolute Confusion: Did the Supreme Court Blunder in Raising the Bar for Trademark Parodies in Jack Daniel’s?

Beating the Buzz: Publicity Concerns for Trademark Applicants

Beating the Buzz: Publicity Concerns for Trademark Applicants

April 25, 2024 |  By: Daniel Davis and Alex Butterman   Last month, auto blogs began buzzing with news of a new competitor on the electric vehicle scene: the Mazda 6E.[1] Unlike some new car launches, the 6E was not unveiled at an auto show or as part of a flashy marketing campaign. Instead, the… Continue reading Beating the Buzz: Publicity Concerns for Trademark Applicants

Judge Dismisses Sarah Silverman’s “Nonsensical” Copyright Claims Against Meta: Lessons for AI Developers

Judge Dismisses Sarah Silverman’s “Nonsensical” Copyright Claims Against Meta: Lessons for AI Developers

December 11, 2023   |   By: Daniel Davis   A California federal judge recently dismissed several copyright infringement claims brought by comedian Sarah Silverman and other writers against Meta Platforms, Inc (“Meta”), Facebook’s parent company.[1] In their lawsuit, the writers claim that Meta used illegal copies of their books to develop the company’s Large Language Model… Continue reading Judge Dismisses Sarah Silverman’s “Nonsensical” Copyright Claims Against Meta: Lessons for AI Developers

Bulletproof Trademarks: Why Brand Owners Should File a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability

Why should brand owners file a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability? This effectively gives the trademark owner a bulletproof vest...

Bulletproof Trademarks: Why Brand Owners Should File a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability   September 20, 2023   |   By: Daniel Davis and Alex Butterman   Last fall, the maker of BLUE GOO pain relief products filed a trademark infringement lawsuit over a competitor’s GREEN GOO pain relief salve.[1] Trademark litigation can be long and costly.… Continue reading Bulletproof Trademarks: Why Brand Owners Should File a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability

The Case of the Imaginary Yacht: Is ChatGPT the Future of Legal Research?

April 3, 2023   |   By: Daniel Davis   Is ChatGPT the Future of Legal Research?   I recently asked a robot for legal advice. I had heard about OpenAI’s ChatGPT program, famous for its ability to rap in the style of well-known musical artists (hello, copyright lawsuits), write college essays (teachers, GPTZero is your new hero), and… Continue reading The Case of the Imaginary Yacht: Is ChatGPT the Future of Legal Research?

Brushstroke Envy: Why You Should Trademark your NFT

By: Daniel Davis  [10/20/22] ​The most valuable painting in the world is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine fabric merchant. In English, this masterpiece by Léonardo da Vinci is known as the Mona Lisa. In 1962, the painting was insured for $100 million. Based on this estimate, today, the Mona Lisa… Continue reading Brushstroke Envy: Why You Should Trademark your NFT

Killing Them Easier: USPTO “Reverses” the Federal Circuit on Genericness

By: Daniel Davis  [8/1/22]   Generic terms—terms that are primarily understood to be the name of a product or service—cannot be trademarks. [1] For example, one cannot register APPLE as a trademark for (you guessed it) apples. [2] When a trademark becomes generic, the mark falls into the public domain, and anyone can use it. [3] Because becoming generic terminates the… Continue reading Killing Them Easier: USPTO “Reverses” the Federal Circuit on Genericness

Putin v. Peppa Pig: How Russia’s War in Ukraine Threatens Intellectual Property Rights

By: Daniel Davis [3/18/22] Seeking to end the human suffering caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and many other nations have imposed strict economic sanctions on Russia. For the same reason, many private companies—including Apple, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Ikea, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Porsche, and Toyota—have left or sharply downsized their business operations in Russia. [1]… Continue reading Putin v. Peppa Pig: How Russia’s War in Ukraine Threatens Intellectual Property Rights

Four-Year Sentence for Trademark Scammer

By: Daniel Davis On Wednesday (September 15, 2021), a federal judge sentenced Viktors Suhorukovs to four years in prison. Suhorukovs, a Latvian citizen, sent thousands of fake trademark renewal notices to unsuspecting trademark owners using official-sounding names such as “Patent and Trademark Office” and “Patent and Trademark Bureau.” The scam, which Suhorukovs ran for nearly… Continue reading Four-Year Sentence for Trademark Scammer

Intern Program

As part of our effort to recruit, develop and retail the best and brightest attorneys, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig offers a summer intern program for promising law school students who are looking to work as part of an innovative and incredibly successful team. With a global team of lawyers, selected candidates are able to work on high level projects in a collaborative space.

Paralegals and Legal Support Staff

At Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, our team of paralegals and staff work together collaboratively along side our attorneys toward a common goal. We have created a positive work environment where our paralegals and legal assistants work to successfully reach firm-wide goals and support each other to combine individual strengths to enhance team performance. They regularly assist our attorneys with organizing and maintaining files, conducting legal research, and preparing documents.