Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

For many direct-to-consumer (“D2C”) e-commerce businesses, China is the source of the products that are delivered to consumers directly from the manufacturing or processing centers. The business model works economically for many reasons, including what is generally called the de minimis customs and postal rule. This rule allows packages with values less than $800 to […]

In every name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) endorsement agreement, there are provisions that prohibit the use of team logos and designs and that ban the athlete from appearing in his or her team’s jersey or other identifying clothes. This may seem puzzling since the reason the athlete is being sought out for NIL endorsements is […]

One of the many ongoing cases involving copyright laws and AI generative modules and programs involves plaintiffs, Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre, GMBH, and West Publishing Corp., against a now-defunct business — Ross Intelligence, Inc. Ross Intelligence is accused of copyright infringement when it attempted to create an AI-driven alternative to one of Reuters’ online products, […]

Under U.S. Trademark law, there is no legal limit to the number of words or characters that can be considered a “phrase” for trademark purposes. So, in theory, you could try to register a trademark for a 100-character phrase. And, occasionally, over the years, applicants have tried to register trademarks with very long phrases. In […]

Practically speaking, the answer is “no.” As many know, Amazon’s Terms of Service and other agreements require that any disputes be submitted to binding private arbitration (as opposed to resolution through the process of a public court proceeding). Through movies, television, and literary depictions and descriptions, many people have some sense of how court proceedings […]

As we have written here on this blog, artificial intelligence (“AI”) programs and modules are causing turmoil in the area of copyright law. In general, three areas are concerning to copyright holders: The vast amount of pending AI/copyright litigation is focusing on the first two questions and the litigation is now going global. For example, […]

E-commerce businesses focus their main efforts on using the internet as the main channel for their business activities. This fact gives e-commerce businesses unique characteristics with respect to business operations and their legal needs. This, in turn, means that e-commerce businesses need to retain internet law and e-commerce lawyers who have unique experience and skill […]

In the vast majority of business, consumer, and other types of contracts, there is one or several clauses in the contract that reference the parties’ agreement on “choice of law,” “venue,” and — often — “jurisdiction.” A sample contract clause containing all three might look like this (choosing New York for convenience): “CHOICE OF LAW, […]

Generally speaking, non-solicitation agreements relate to either customers or employees (with the latter type often called “no-poach” agreements). These types of agreements are most often seen as part of the contracts signed when a business is sold, and the principal employees will not join the buyer or as part of asset purchase agreements where the […]

Yes, it can be difficult, but it is possible to trademark a color. There are a number of famous examples including Tiffany blue and the UPS company’s brown. Indeed, there are at least two well-known shades of pink that have been registered as trademarks in the U.S., including a certain color pink — Pantone 210 […]