Ohio State University recently made Intellectual Property headlines by managing to procure a trademark registration for the word THE. The registration procured by Ohio State covers t-shirts, caps, and hats. Although the registration covers limited goods and services, that hasn’t stopped people from being outraged by the idea that a person or entity can obtain exclusive rights to use of the most commonly used word in the English language. But is it really that big of a deal? In my humble opinion, it is not. Continue Reading Ohio State Successfully Registers the Word THE with the Trademark Office

©2022. Published in Landslide, Vol. 14, No. 4, June/July 2022, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

This article was written by Josh Escovedo and Michelle Yegiyants.

The landscape has changed. After decades of the NCAA reaping the benefit of college players, their labor, and their name, image, and likeness (collectively, NIL), the NCAA has changed its policy and allowed players to market their NIL without sacrificing their amateur status. However, the NCAA only made this change after a scathing U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a related matter, where the Court affirmed a decision from a U.S. district court enjoining the NCAA from limiting universities from providing student-athletes with certain education-related benefits.[1] In Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, he warned the NCAA that it should strongly reconsider its NIL-related policies before such matters are taken before the Court.[2] The Court issued its decision on June 21, 2021. The NCAA responded by changing its policy effective July 1, 2021.[3]  Continue Reading A Brave New World: The NCAA’s New NIL Policy and the Need for Federal Legislation

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a dispute between Vans and MSCHF, over MSCHF’s new sneaker line that contains “striking visual similarities” to Vans shoes and packaging.

Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: 2nd Circuit to Determine if Rogers Test Fits Shoe Trade Dress Dispute Between MISCHF and Vans

In May, skater shoe company, Vans, persuaded a district court judge in NY to halt the pre-sale of a pair of shoes called Wavy Baby, the result of a collaboration of rapper Tyga and MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based design studio that was previously sued by Nike over its Satan Shoe collaboration with NasX. The case is Vans, Inc. v. MSCHF Product Studio, Inc. In Vans’ motion for a TRO, the court determined that Vans would likely prevail on its claims that consumers would be confused between the Wavy Baby sneakers and Vans’ Old Skool sneakers because of their “striking visual similarities” and packaging. Continue Reading MSCHF Looks to the 2nd Circuit to Get Out of Trouble with Vans

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo provide an update on the copyright dispute between a photographer and the Andy Warhol Foundation over several Warhol paintings that utilize the photographer’s images as source material.

Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Update – Andy Warhol Foundation Urges Supreme Court to Reverse Fair Use Decision