Author Archives: Eric Misterovich

Legal activists for the disabled are filing an increasing number of successful website accessibility challenges. Among the companies sued: Hobby Lobby, eBay, Blick Art Materials, Five Guys, Target, Winn-Dixie, etc. Very soon, it may be the law that commercial websites must be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Background: The Case Of Gil […]

We wrote recently about our outrage at white nationalists modifying and using the Detroit Red Wing’s famous “winged wheel” logo. Our outrage continues and we take a closer look at the potential lawsuit that might be in order. This is also a timely way to consider some other lessons such as no-assets defendants and so-called […]

As we recently discussed here, in June, the US Supreme Court declared the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act unconstitutional as a violation of the free speech clause of the First Amendment. In general, the disparagement clause prohibited registration of trademarks that might disparage a person, groups, or institutions. Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S., 137 […]

It is difficult not to talk about the absolute tragedy, disaster, or other-worldliness of the events in Charlottesville, VA. Plenty of smart people have weighed in on its implications and our President’s response. I won’t add to that dialogue. I am here to talk about Charlottesville and…trademark law. As a Michigander, I was shocked to […]

Copyright law protects any creative/artistic work as soon as it is fixed in a tangible medium. As the owner of the creative/artistic work, you own a variety of rights associated with your work, including the exclusive right to distribute, reproduce, perform, display, and prepare derivative works. Copyright registration exists separately from common law copyright protection […]

If a dispute arises over use and/or registration of an internet domain name, resolution of the dispute is accomplished through proceedings under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, known as UDRP proceedings, administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”). ICANN is a private, non-profit organization formed specifically to control web […]

Business Contracts 101: The Basics When you are running your business, almost everything you do is contractual, even if you do not see yourself as making and accepting contracts. If you email over a purchase order to one of your suppliers, that is a contract. In business, contracts can be quite simple. They can also […]

In general, a breach of contract is any failure to perform what you agreed to do. Examples would be: Failure to deliver the goods promise Failure to deliver the goods in a timely fashion Failure to pay, etc. Contractual obligations are set forth in the contract between the parties. If the contract is in writing, […]

The first question in any trademark opposition or cancellation proceeding is likely a question of whether the opposer (for opposition proceedings) or petitioner (for cancellation proceedings) has standing to pursue the action. The rules for establishing standing, meaning a sufficient interest in the mark to litigate, are relatively easy to establish and are generally considered […]

A trademark cancellation proceeding is an administrative proceeding, similar to a civil federal lawsuit, before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in which one party requests that a registered trademark be cancelled. In other words, a mark that has successfully made its way through the trademark registration process still remains subject to cancellation by […]