Cardi B was cleared of liability in an action alleging that she misappropriated a man’s likeness by using his unique back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 mixtape. Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss this in this installment of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog.Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Cardi B Makes Money Moves with the Jury and Prevails in IP Trial

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss developments in the trademark dispute between NBA star Luka Doncic and his mother.Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: NBA Star Luka Doncic Goes Hard in the Paint and Seeks to Cancel Mom’s Trademark (Part 2)

One of the most amazing accomplishments in the field of biotechnology has been the development and distribution of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19). The numbers tell the story.

The time from when the coronavirus’ RNA sequence, identified by China, was published on January 11, 2020 to the date that clinical trials in the U.S. began in March 2020 was 66 days. From the date the RNA sequence was published to the date that a vaccine was first administered to the public, on December 11, 2020, was 11 months. Within a year of the date the RNA sequence was published, both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech were providing thousands of doses of mRNA vaccines to people around the world. The mRNA vaccines were extremely effective – they provided about 94-95% protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. These vaccines are now available to anyone over the age of six months. In the world’s wealthiest countries, and in much of the rest of the world, vaccine availability is no longer a factor getting vaccinated.
Continue Reading From Saving the World to Fighting Over IP: Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech

A jury in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in the case of Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software found that the depiction of tattoos on wrestler Randy Orton in a video game published by Take Two Interactive infringed the tattoo artist’s copyright in the tattoos. In this author’s personal opinion, the District Court got it all wrong.
Continue Reading Tattoo Artist Copyright Win Will Create Uncertainty Over Celebrities with Tattoos

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a defamation dispute between Rachel Williams – a victim of con artist Anna Sorokin – and Netflix, over her portrayal in the docudrama “Inventing Anna.”
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Defamation by Docudrama – Inventing Anna