At the complex intersection of trademark law and First Amendment protections, courts have developed a sophisticated framework to balance commercial trademark rights under the Lanham Act against First Amendment expressive speech. Two key tests have emerged as crucial tools in this analysis. The Rogers Test: Protecting Artistic Expression The Rogers test, established in Rogers v. …
Category: infringement
NFT I.P. Issues
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized digital ownership and created entirely new categories of intellectual property disputes. As these blockchain-based assets continue to evolve, they present unique technical and legal challenges that traditional IP frameworks are still adapting to address. The recent Ninth Circuit decision in Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps illustrates the I.P. issues, and …
Understanding Trademark Ownership
When businesses discover that competitors are using confusingly similar marks, the immediate instinct is often to file a trademark infringement lawsuit. However, before rushing to court, trademark owners must ensure they can satisfy a fundamental requirement: proving actual ownership of the trademark in question. Under the Lanham Act, the federal statute governing trademark law, establishing …