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SCOTUS Update: First Amendment Protects “F-Word” and Other “Immoral” or “Scandalous” Trademarks

Just prior to adjourning for its summer recess, the United States Supreme Court ruled that First Amendment free speech considerations required the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) to register the trademark “FUCT.”  The “FUCT” case is the second in three years contesting federal trademark registration content restrictions. In...

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UPDATE: Supreme Court Agrees to Determine Legality of PTO’s Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees in Review of Denials of Applications

As an update of my reporting concerning the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s controversial policy of seeking to recover attorneys’ fees in connection with district court review of denials of trademark and patent applications, the Supreme Court today granted the petition for certiorari in Iancu v. Nantkwest and agreed...

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Intellectual Property Update: As Predicted, Copyright Office Denies the “Carlton” Copyright Registration and Raises Ownership Questions

Recent developments in the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Alfonso Ribeiro, known for playing Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, against video game maker Epic Games confirm the questions raised in my prior post as to whether Ribeiro could register a copyright in the Carlton dance and bring a...

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Can I Copyright My Funky Dance Moves? Ask Intellectual Property Attorney Larry Brocchini

The recent filing of a federal copyright infringement lawsuit by Alfonso Ribeiro—“Carlton” on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and YouTube celebrity, famous for "the Carlton,” his arm-swinging movements to the Tom Jones diddy "It’s Not Unusual"—raises the question of whether and to what extent choreographed dance moves can by copyrighted...

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Employment Update: Supreme Court Finds Independent Truckers Not Subject to Arbitration under Federal Arbitration Act Exemption

In a rare, but limited, win for employees on the issue of arbitration of employment disputes, a unanimous Supreme Court today ruled in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira that trucking company New Prime Inc. cannot compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in a class action alleging failure to...

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Intellectual Property Update: Supreme Court Agrees to Review Appellate Decision Striking Down the Federal Trademark Law’s Ban on Registration of “Immoral” or “Scandalous” Trademarks

As I reported previously, following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that the Lanham Act’s statutory bar to registration of “disparaging” trademarks ran afoul of the First Amendment, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down a companion portion of the federal trademark law that precluded registration...

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