Blog – Adam Garson Law

Question on a Keyboard

Dear Doc: Seems to me that us vegetarians don’t get no respect in court. I heard that “Lettuce Turnip the Beet” got ripped off by that infamous pirate and parachute flapping no-good Gymboree Corporation, and the judge wouldn’t lift a finger to help.  What gives? Signed, Rootin’ for the Little Guy Dear Little Root: Since […]

TM is for trademarks

A client recently asked whether he could apply to register his personal name as a trademark.  Of course, just ask Lebron James, Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzeneggr, or Elvis (if you catch sight of him), all of whom registered their names as trademarks.  Does that mean if your name is “Joe,” you can register “Joe’s Bar” […]

uploading photos

Last month the Supreme Court decided the case of Alice v. CLS Bank and wandered around once again in wonderland. Let me explain.  The U.S. Supreme Court, as judge made law, has grafted onto patent law the concepts that one cannot obtain a patent on a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract […]

TM is for Trademarks

Dear Doc: Ever since you wrote about Aereo, the company with bazillions of tiny TV antennas and video recorders, I have been waiting for them to come to my town, so that I could get a decent television picture (no more of that digital BRAAAAP every 16 seconds unless I stand next to the TV […]

TM is for Trademarks

If you haven’t heard by now, this past week the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled several trademarks owned by Pro-Football, Inc. (“Pro Football”) for the term “Redskins” on grounds that the marks were “disparaging to Native Americans.”  This issue has been around for some time […]

The-Top-Computer-Companies-In

The Supreme Court has had a busy time of it in June stirring the patent pot, with decisions in three cases and arguments in a fourth. The general rule is that whenever the Supreme Court decides a patent case, the law is left in worse shape than it was before. The recent decisions are no […]

Courtroom

A cyber security firm called Norse maintains what it claims to be a dynamic, real-time map of cyber attacks as they happen, showing cities of origin and targets.  The first thing you’ll do after viewing this constantly-changing map is update your security software.  The second is to clean the cobwebs out of your filing cabinet. […]

Internet and Intellectual Property

Dear Doc: I have heard that the music and movie industries want Congress to add a new part to the Copyright Law, one that would say that it is a violation of a copyright owner’s rights to “make available” a copy of a work, even if the copy is never accessed by anyone. What gives? […]

Copyright concepts

This week, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion of great importance to those wishing to enforce their copyrights. In Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., the Supreme Court clarified confusion among lower courts about whether the doctrine of laches (also known as unreasonable delay) could bar a lawsuit for copyright infringement.  While the court’s opinion […]