In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a legal dispute between the Prince estate and an Ohio-based winery over the rights to the trademark “Purple Rain.”
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Prince Estate Wants Winery’s ‘Purple Rain’ Trademark Back in the Bottle
In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the NCAA’s decision to petition a trademark held by a Urology office due to its alleged likeness to its own trademarks, ‘March Mayhem’ and ‘March Madness.’
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: NCAA Erects Challenge to ‘Vasectomy Mayhem’ Trademark
In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the Ninth Circuit Ruling on the trademark aspects of Dr. Seuss “mashups.” They also provide a recap of last week’s episode, which covers the copyright aspects of the case.
I’m experiencing déjà vu. I wrote about a similar topic prior to Allegiant Air becoming the official sponsor of the Las Vegas stadium that the Raiders now call home. In fact, I covered the topic at a time when Allegiant Air claimed that it was not involved in any negotiations for the naming rights of any professional sports facilities despite having filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for use of Allegiant in connection with stadium or training facilities.
Continue Reading Will Starbucks Become the Next Corporate Sponsor of a Professional Sports Facility?
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
