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After a year of struggle following their initial arrival at Plymouth Rock in 1620, the Pilgrims finally had a fruitful harvest due to the help of the Native Americans. To celebrate, the Pilgrims invited their Native American friends to a feast and Thanksgiving was born. In the spirit of this struggle faced by the Pilgrims, many inventors have concocted various methods and apparatuses to ease the struggle facing modern chefs. For instance, Alan B. Rogers et al. disclosed a method for preparing a frozen stuffed fowl in U.S. Patent No. 2,928,748, describing a poultry-stuffing process. Similarly, Peter A. Sieczkiewiz patented…

Amazon.com Inc. recently announced its intention to make a foray into private-label athletic attire. While Lululemon already faces competition from brands such as Nike, Under Armour, Athleta, as well as others, the e-commerce company may pose a novel threat with its price-driven strategy. Moreover, in order to manufacture this new line of sportswear, Amazon has contracted Eclat Textile Co., a top Lululemon supplier that helped the yoga-pant giant create its signature Luon fabric as well as newer materials. This may prove problematic for Lululemon as it lacks the proper intellectual property protection to halt Amazon from invading its market. Not…

Famous athletes commonly trademark their names and jersey numbers. Indeed, Shaquille O’Neal owns “Dunkman” for apparel and accessories, “Shaq-Fu” for books, softdrinks, and video games, and “Shaq Attaq” for clothing and footwear. Shaq even trademarked his signature. Similarly, Tim Tebow holds the trademark for “Tebowing,” which is the kneeling prayer stance he took before games. Not only do these sports icons trademark their personas, many also seek protection of inspirational slogans or phrases. Back in 2007, the Lance Armstrong Foundation registered “Livestrong.”  More recently, LBJ Trademarks LLC, owned by Lebron James, trademarked “Nothing is Given. Everything is Earned.” Olympic sprinter…

Scientific research has consistently confirmed that olfaction is strongly associated with memories and emotions. As such, the use of this less-exploited sense as a marketing ploy provides an advantage over other crowded channels, such as visual or auditory. Earlier this year, Hasbro filed an application for registration of the scent of its Play-Doh toy modeling compound as a trademark. Trademarks serve to distinguish the products and services of one company from those of a competitor in the minds of consumers. Trademarks are commonly words, designs, or combinations thereof, but other non-traditional trademarks, including scent, have been recognized by the U.S.…

In the past, the general impression has been that trademark law in China weighed heavily in favor of local companies over foreign brands. This has proven problematic for many global companies due to the fact that the need to think about intellectual property protection in China is an inevitable reality. Then, at the end of last year, Michael Jordan received a rare ruling in favor of a foreign brand in a Chinese court. The basketball legend had sued Qiaodan (Michael Jordan’s Chinese name) Sports in 2012 claiming the local company had built its business around his name and famous jersey…

Classic trademarks consist of word or graphic elements or a combination of the two. However, a trademark may consist of colors, sounds, or even shapes of goods. Various candy manufacturers have taken advantage of this by requesting registration of the designs and shapes of their treats as a trademark. For instance, Hershey was granted trademark protection for its classic chocolate bar being described as “a configuration of a candy bar that consists of 12 equally-sized recessed rectangular panels arranged in a four panel by three panel format with each panel having its own raised border within a large rectangle.” The…

Rasta Imposta, a small costume company, sued Kmart for copyright infringement after the retail store discontinued carrying the company’s banana costume. Instead, Kmart switched to another company and Rasta Imposta alleges the current Kmart costume has the same shape, lines, and cutouts of its banana costume. Moreover, the complaint continues, even the model displaying the costume is adorning it in a similar fashion with black pants and dress shoes. Rasta Imposta’s argument relies on a recent Supreme Court ruling on the copyright status of cheerleading uniforms. In that case, the Court held the uniform was eligible for copyright protection to…