Category: Business Law

The acronym SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” These are often called “SLAPP suits” and have become quite the problem for smaller advocate groups and outspoken individuals. SLAPP suits are technically lawsuits, but they are not filed to win. Rather, they are filed to censor plaintiffs’ critics by scaring defendants into lengthy and […]

Opposition is a legal procedure that allows third parties, who may be worried about confusion with their own trademarks, to question the validity of pending trademarks. There are two main grounds for opposing a pending trademark: absolute and relative.

Most people are familiar with Lumosity – the ‘brain training’ program that claimed to delay cognitive impairment caused by aging, among other causes. However, Lumosity will be paying a $2 million settlement because of a recent judgment by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) that its claims were unfounded.

Katherine Craig, a Detroit artist, is suing the Bloomfield-Hills based Princeton Enterprises because the developer wants to tear down a building in Detroit. While opposition to the destruction of buildings is not uncommon—particularly for older, historic buildings—Craig’s reason is quite different: she wants to preserve the 100-by-125-foot mural painted on the side of the building. Why? Because she painted it. 

Over the last fifteen years, federal courts in Michigan have heard nearly 50 cases involving alleged violations of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Although each has contributed to a better understanding of cybersquatt…

On December 16th, an opinion from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals boosted the number of appellate courts agreeing to an interpretation of a rule related to trademarks and domain names. The court held that re-registering a domain name,…

Ratings websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor are changing the way people choose where to eat, where to shop, where to travel and where to lodge. According to its website, TripAdvisor alone is home to over 250 million reviews made by people wi…

2015 has been an incredible year for Revision Legal. You have presented challenging questions and we have enjoyed working to protect your interests. And we’re really excited to see what 2016 will bring. 

The Federal Trade Commission recently released an Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements. This statement reiterates that Section 5 of the FTC Act, which deals with ”unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce” also applies to online advertisements. Online ads can take many forms, but if an ‘ad’ looks like anything […]

Last week, the Michigan legislature presented a bill to Governor Rick Snyder that might stimulate data industry growth in the state. If signed into law, Senate Bill 616 will amend Michigan’s General Sales Tax Act to exempt companies engaged in data center related business from paying sales and use taxes.