Buffy the Zombie Trademark Slayer I recently finished an extremely important project: rewatching all 144 glorious episodes of the acclaimed late 90s/early 2000s TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” This got me thinking about how a company protects its trademarks when the main product (in this case, a TV show) is no longer being produced, and the related – and somewhat appropriate – topic of “zombie” trademarks. If you read the whole post, I’ll even tell you my three favorite episodes.
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Keep it Legal Blog
Cracker Barrel Trademark Battle
April 2, 2013
Cracker Barrel Trademark Battle Kraft Foods and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store are in a heated legal battle over the rights to the trademark CRACKER BARREL. This case is interesting not only because of the fame and reach of both companies, but also because the parties have been using variations of the “Cracker Barrel” name since the 1940s (in the case of Kraft Foods’ “Cracker Barrel Cheese”) and the 1960s (in the case of the Cracker Barrel restaurants). While it’s common for identical marks to be used in connection with separate types of goods and services, this case illustrates the…
The Supreme Court’s Landmark First User Copyright Decision
March 27, 2013
The Supreme Court’s Landmark First User Copyright Decision Last week the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark copyright ruling in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley (link goes to a PDF of the full decision). The case concerned the “First Sale” Doctrine, which holds that once a consumer lawfully purchases a copyrighted good, the distribution rights embodied in the copyright are exhausted, and the owner of the product has the right to sell or otherwise dispose of that individual good as he or she pleases. To put it another way, if I buy a copy of Baseball Prospectus 2013 from Amazon, read…
Can You Sue the BBB for an F?
March 20, 2013
Can You Sue the BBB for an F? Can you sue the Better Business Bureau for giving your business an “F?” And why should all consumer-facing businesses care take note of this issue?
