In November 2021, fast-food chain Jack in the Box sued FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2019, over an allegedly infringing mascot named Lunar, referred to as “Moon Man”. FTX featured its Moon Man character in commercials running during MLB games. Jack in the Box is not happy.

In its complaint filed in Federal court in California, Jack in the Box references various tweets regarding the FTX Moon Man – “Oh look, it’s Walmart Jack in the Box!”, “Is it a dirty jack in the box thing?”, and “Jack in the Box’s drugged up cousin”.  One Twitter® user even tweeted a public post directly to FTX stating, “Hey, @FTX_Official, your mascot doesn’t look like the moon. He looks like Jack-In-The-Box with skin cancer.” Continue Reading Jack in the Box Pops a Spring Over FTX “Moon Man” Mascot

In this episode of The Briefing from the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a trademark dispute between the Lord of The Rings Author’s Estate and the Cryptocurrency JRR Token. Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Lord of The Rings Author’s Estate Clings to its Precious Trademark, Blocking JRR Token

In this episode of The Briefing from the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a legal dispute between Miramax and Quentin Tarantino, over his efforts to sell “Pulp Fiction” themed NFT’s. Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Say NFT Again – I Dare You: Miramax Sues Quentin Tarantino Over Plans to Sell “Pulp Fiction” NFT

The IP Law Blog has been tracking the progress of the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Taylor Swift by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the writers of “Playas Gon’ Play” by the girl group 3LW (released in 2001).  (See “Taylor Swift Keeps Fighting the ‘Players’ and the ‘Haters’” and “Hall v. Swift: Nothing Original About a Player Hater”.) Hall and Butler allege that Swift’s lyrics in “Shake It Off” (“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”) infringe on their song (“Playa, they gonna play / And haters, they gonna hate”). Continue Reading Taylor Swift to Face Trial in “Shake it Off” Copyright Infringement Case Filed by Writers of 3LW’s “Playas Gon’ Play”

In this episode of The Briefing from the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo provide an update on the legal battle between the Cleveland Guardians Baseball and Roller Derby teams. Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Cleveland Now Has Two Guardians: The Baseball Team and the Roller Derby Team Settle Their Case and Agree to Joint Use