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            Since 2016, singer and songwriter, Ed Sheeran, has been facing a one hundred million dollar lawsuit against fellow songwriter, the late Ed Townsend Jr., through his heirs. In particular, the heirs claim that Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud” plagiarizes his song “Let’s Get it on,” co-written and performed by Marvin Gaye. According to the lawsuit, Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye’s songs have the “same melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, and syncopation.”             “Let’s Get It On” was written in 1973 and a copyright application was filed that same year with the United States Copyright Office….

            Pop singer Ariana Grande is suing fashion retailer Forever 21 and the beauty company started by the daughters of Forever 21’s founder, Riley Rose, for their alleged unauthorized use of Grande’s name, image, likeness, and music in their recent campaigns. Grande claims that their marketing campaign violates the common law rights of publicity and her copyright and trademark rights under the Copyright Act and the Trademark Act, respectively. Ariana Grande is suing for ten million dollars for actual damages, disgorgement of Forever 21’s ill-gotten profits, and punitive damages in order to prevent Forever 21 and Riley Rose from violating…

In July of 2019, Mondelez Canada Inc. (MCI), the company known for the sour gummy candy, Sour Patch Kids, filed a trademark lawsuit against the brand “Stoney Patch,” for selling THC-infused gummies by the same name. In the complaint, MCI claims trademark and trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. Trademarks offer protection for logos, symbols, phrases, words and designs and trade dress offers protection for other elements used to promote a product or service. In this way, trademarks serve the function of designating the source of a particular product or service. Trademark infringement occurs when there exists the…

            In May of this year, New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, filed a set of applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register “TOM TERRIFIC” as a trademark. In particular, TEB Capital Management, Inc., Brady’s management company, filed two applications, one in International Class 16 for “collectible trading cards; sports trading cards; posters; printed photographs” and one in International Class 25 for “t-shirts; shirts.” In response, the USPTO issued identical rejections to both applications based on what is known as “false connection” and “name of living individual.”             The USPTO examining attorney’s first refusal, “false…

            Post Media Systems, LLC, recently filed separate lawsuits against Apple Music, Pandora and Google for allegedly infringing four patents related to music streaming. These three lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Interestingly, Post Media Systems admits to being a Texas corporation with a principal place of business in Texas. Nonetheless, Post Media Systems chose to file this lawsuit in Illinois, where the company seemingly has no connections. Such a filing tactic tends to suggest a strategy and namely, that the attorneys for Post Media Systems believe Illinois to be a…

            Ferrari recently transmitted a cease and desist letter to Philipp Plein, threatening to sue the German fashion design for posting images of his sneakers on the hood of his own personal Ferrari. On June 30, 2019, on his personal Instagram page, which currently has more than 1.8 million followers, Plein posted an image of a green pair of his branded sneakers atop the rear of his green Ferrari with the caption “50 shades of 🍏 🍏 🍏.” Again, on July 29, 2019, Plein posted another image, which included the same green sneakers atop the hood of (presumably) the same…

            This week, a Los Angeles jury ruled that Katy Perry’s 2013 hit song “Dark Horse” featuring Juicy J infringes a 2008 Christian rap song. The dispute began in 2014, when Christian rapper, Marcus Gray, known to his audience as Flame, in addition to collaborators Lecrae and John Reilly, filed a lawsuit against Katy Perry, Juicy J, and other collaborators of “Dark Horse” alleging the hit infringed their rap song, “Joyful Noise.” The unanimous decision was handed down on July 29th, after a week-long trial. The jury has yet to decide the amount of damages defendants owe the Christian artists…

Can a New Mexico nonprofit research park corporation prevail in a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple Inc. (“Apple”) for patents originally filed by a Taiwanese ‘Patent Troll’? STC.UNM is a New Mexico nonprofit research park corporation formed, owned, and controlled entirely by the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico (“UNM”).  UNM is New Mexico’s flagship research institution with over 25,000 students and 1,700 faculty members across Albuquerque, Gallup, Los Alamos, Rio Rancho, Taos, and Los Lunas, New Mexico.  STC.UNM’s intellectual property portfolio includes 1,700 inventions and over 500 United States patents. On July 19, 2019, STC.UNM filed…

Can an inventor patent a UFO-like space craft capable of traveling at extreme speeds across land, water, and air by using an inertial mass reduction device? On April 28, 2016, military inventor and researcher, Salvatore Cezar Pais, filed patent application 15/141,270 for a UFO-like space craft capable of traveling at extreme speeds using an inertial mass reduction device.  Several years later, on December 4, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent for the invention to the United States Secretary of Navy (U.S. Patent No. 10,244,532 B2).  The Patent describes a UFO-like space craft capable of stealthily…

On July 1, 2019, Justice John G. Koeltl from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the Opinion and Order. In the Opinion and Order, the Court finds that Andy Warhol’s “Prince Series” constitutes fair use and does not infringe Lynn Goldsmith’s copyright over the Goldsmith Prince Photograph. Andy Warhol is one of the most celebrated American artists of the 20th Century. Warhol created works about widely circulated images of celebrities, and everyday items such as Campbell’s soup cans and Brillo pads. Museums and universities across the globe display his works which are viewed…