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- Supreme Court Rules That Law Prohibiting Offensive Trademarks Offends
Supreme Court Rules That Law Prohibiting Offensive Trademarks Offends
June 20, 2017, Covington Alert
In a case that has drawn significant media attention for its potential effect on the Washington Redskins organization, the U.S. Supreme Court held on Monday, June 19, that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) cannot deny a trademark registration on the basis that the proposed mark may “disparage” “persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols.” Instead, the Court held that the 70-year-old law prohibiting registration of such marks, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), “offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend.”
May 4, 2020, Covington Alert
As we continue to socially distance ourselves in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re sharing copyrighted works in new ways and with increasing frequency. And while copyright probably isn’t the first thing on people’s minds as we navigate this “new normal,” these rapid changes in how we interact can raise a number of concerns about how copyrighted materials are ...
March 25, 2020, Covington Alert
Piracy has long been a problem in America, although modern day pirates of intellectual property bear little resemblance to their old-school counterparts sailing along the Caribbean and the American coast. Yet in a ruling on Monday, March 23, the Supreme Court tied together the legacies of those two very different types of pirates: modern-day state governments ...
March 24, 2017, Covington Alert
In a highly anticipated copyright decision issued on March 22, the Supreme Court held that the designs on Varsity Brands’ cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright protection. In reaching that ruling, the Court set out a standard that aims to harmonize a multitude of tests across the country.