A recent case involving two online providers of maternity clothing, Ingrid & Isabel, Inc. v. Baby Be Mine, LLC, gave rise to this question: are you allowed to copy the look & feel of a competitor’s website if you don’t directly copy elements protected by copyright and trademark, such as wording and logos? To answer this question, the court had to explore the concept of trade dress, a subset of trademark law.
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Keep it Legal Blog
Can Graffiti be Protected by Copyright and Trademark Law?
October 28, 2014
As part of a trend, a recent lawsuit alleged that fashion designer Roberto Cavalli infringed the legal rights of artists Revok, Reyes and Steel when he used images from one of their graffiti murals on clothing and related goods under his Just Cavalli brand. Who owns the rights to graffiti images?
Lean Law
October 21, 2014
Business attorneys have been trained to operate in a traditional business environment. However, that environment is quickly changing. Cutting edge businesses today are oriented towards staying lean – in terms of their operations, their business models, and even their budgets for legal services. It’s crucial that the practice of law evolves to meet the needs of these businesses. A growing divide between business practice and business law will only increase costs and stifle innovation. This post is an attempt to define the lean startup methodology and explore how it relates to the practice of business law.
The Perils of Naked Licensing
October 14, 2014
It’s hard to believe that after 3+ years of blogging, I haven’t had a chance to talk about naked licensing. Well, a Michigan court just gave me that chance in the case of Movie Mania Metro, Inc. v. GZ DVD’s Inc., Hazim Jarbo, and Sandra A. Zielke. OK, so what is naked licensing?
