Category: Intellectual Property

When litigation involves super-sized technology companies battling over software with marketing implications in the online universe, it’s hardly surprising that corresponding dollar figures are high. Like in the billions. Just how many billions yet remains to be seen in the near wake of a judicial decision rendered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…

Intellectual property is an important asset for any business. Every startup needs to consider how it can protect its ideas and plans for the future. It has to protect its products and its way of doing things. Intellectual property comes in many forms, but knowing how to protect it is important. To start with, you…

In the era of social media, companies have unprecedented opportunities to connect with their customers. However, with this inundation of information—that can be viewed and shared with the click of a mouse—comes elevated risk that a company brands could be misused or abused. May companies have developed social media policies, which dictate the ways in…

fake iPhones, Prada handbags and Nike running shoes. And it’s not just smaller items that are subject to counterfeiting; Chinese counterfeiters have been known to replicate entire American cars. However, the tides appear to be turning, which may signal an end to the counterfeiters’ free rein. In a recent announcement, the Chinese government laid out strategic…

Intellectual property can refer to many different legal elements. Intellectual property can be ideas, or tangible objects. They can be patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The umbrella that is IP law is quite a bit wider than many people may realize. Another area of intellectual property law that doesn’t always pop into your mind when you…

Readers looking for a strong example of company perseverance in the Darwinian environment that marks international business might be hard placed to find a better representative than sporting shoe maker New Balance. Indeed, New Balance has consistently displayed an aggressive and never-give-up front globally in efforts to safeguard its iconic “N” trademark, despite successive losses…

When you think about Louis Vuitton, do you think of a fashion company or a tech company? When you pose the same question about food delivery company Blue Apron, do you see a fresh food provider or a tech company? The question over this distinction is becoming ever more common as more companies want to…

Protecting intellectual property in California is just as important for artists and writers as it is for large businesses and companies, if not more so. In fact, for writers, their written work is their product and their livelihood, and without protection of their rights to the profits from their creations, they might never receive compensation. A recent…

Task for him or her to name even a single one of the King’s storied hits from bygone decades. Elvis has, well, panache. And what is eminently notable about that — especially for marketing executives with well-attuned sales antenna — is that the aura that surrounds the pronounced sneer, flaring hips and memorable voice endures…

The time-honored and oft-litigated standard relevant in adjudging trademark lawsuits focuses squarely on confusion. That is, courts are routinely asked to consider whether an alleged infringing use of a protected mark is sufficiently similar in look and feel to reasonably promote confusion in a consumer as to the source of the mark. Put another way,…

It appeared that the Arthur Andersen and Andersen Worldwide network, one of the five “Big Five” accounting firms, was recently poised to rise from the ashes after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. The network even announced its reconstitution under the company name of Arthur Anderson, although the legal name of the partner is MoHala…

What centrally defines the marketing power or financial force that underlies a dynamic business or creative individual? Although many things go into the equation, of course, we would modestly submit that the bottom line is inextricably linked with branding, which is in turn closely connected to notions of uniqueness. We have seen the connection many…

Artists, musical groups and companies – whether California-based, national or international – all have a few things in common, and one of those things is usually having a logo. A logo represents the group or company’s personal brand and is associated with them, for better or worse. Protecting rights to a logo is important, especially…

If you’re lucky enough to be part of a smart team of ambitious and enterprising California entrepreneurs, there’s probably a lot on your plate at the startup you’re either envisioning or actively developing. Things are probably in a swirl, with product ideas and lines emerging with clarity and progressive refinement. A company “face” might also…

The attorneys at the firmly established Los Angeles business and commercial law firm of Larson & Gaston, L.L.P., represent a diverse clientele with passion and diligence across a wide spectrum of challenges and opportunities. One of our practice areas is the realm of intellectual property, which we justifiably denote as being the repository for “powerful…

If you’re reading this blog entry of the Southern California business law firm of Larson & Gaston on its posting date or thereabouts, there’s a fair chance you might be splitting your attention between its subject matter and what’s currently going on at the Olympic Games in Brazil. Because it’s that time, of course, with…

Although some media reports of a presently circulating story regarding well-known entertainer Stephen Colbert are expressing a fair bit of surprise regarding its details, the tale actually focuses on well-worn subject matter in the entertainment industry. And that is this: considerations surrounding ownership of creative material that is publicly used. Industry principals fight about that, and for…

The issue of patent infringement on the global stage is one that we’ve talked about before. Readers may recall our post last year in which we explored whether it’s possible for anyone to own the rights to the form of exercise called yoga. As we observed then, while it’s possible to trace the roots of yoga to…

Many business entities across Southern California — and many of the corporate clients we serve with passion, empathy and pride — routinely confront legal issues that exist across a wide universe of considerations. That is hardly surprising, of course, given the complex and sophisticated nature that marks business as usual in Pasadena, across Los Angeles…

If you’re a fan of popular cultural in its various guises, and especially of comic books and science fiction as portrayed in novels and on the big screen, you’ve likely heard the term “comic con.” And, more than likely, that reference relates specifically to San Diego Comic-Con, an organization started in 1970 to celebrate comics…