Last month the District Court for the Central District of California granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in the case San Diego Gulls Hockey Club, LLC v ECHL, Inc.. The league’s win resolves the league’s potential indemnity obligation to the hockey team, the Gulls. This case presents a cautionary story for transactional attorneys.
Continue Reading Gulls Hockey Team Gets Wings Clipped In IP Dispute With Hockey League
In this week’s episode, Josh Escovedo and Scott Hervey discuss the litigation over Andy Warhol’s series of portraits of the artist Prince (Andy Warhol Foundation v Goldsmith). Their discussion covers the Second Circuit decision in favor of Goldsmith, the photographer whose image Warhol used to create the Prince Portraits, and the holding that Warhol’s renditions were not transformative enough to be fair use. The decision overturned a lower court decision in favor of the Warhol Foundation.
Continue Reading The Briefing – Andy Warhol’s Prince Prints: Not Fair Use!? (Part One)
Hard seltzer first hit the marketplace about five years ago and rapidly grew in popularity with sales exceeding $4.5 billion in 2020. Wanting to ride the wave of success, many companies have introduced hard seltzers into this now crowded space. But what is a hard seltzer? Is it a form of beer or something else? Based on its popularity, most would say, “Who cares whether hard seltzer is beer, just give me one.” However, Modelo Grupo (“Modelo”) and Constellation Brands (“Constellation”) would say there is a lot riding on the answer.
Modelo, whose parent is Anheuser-Busch InBev (“AB”), created the Corona brand. In 2013, Constellation acquired perpetual, irrevocable, and exclusive license rights in the Corona marks, which gave Constellation the right to sell products under the Corona trademark. Then in 2020, Constellation introduced Corona Hard Seltzer, which is a sugar-based, fermented beverage produced in Coahuila, Mexico. Corona Hard Seltzer is now the fourth most popular hard seltzer in the United States, competing directly with Bud Light Seltzer and other AB hard seltzers.
Modelo sued Constellation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over the use of the Corona trademark for Corona Hard Seltzer and for breach of contract, alleging that Constellation only has the right to sell beer products, not hard seltzer, under the Corona brand. According to Modelo, hard seltzer is not one of the allowable beer beverages.
Continue Reading Beer: You Know It When You Taste It, Or Maybe Not
In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss Josh’s article for the IP Law Blog, “Dogs, Whiskey, and Intellectual Property: Need I Say More?”
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Dogs, Whiskey, and Intellectual Property: Need I Say More?
In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub Tobin IP attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a recent decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board involving winemaker Delicato Vineyards and a hard cider maker from Virginia.
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Hard Cider Maker Can’t Whine About Trademark Opposition