Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending January 1, 2021
In this week's post, we see that regardless of blatant trademark use by a third party, if the use is for expression, artistic value, and there is no explicit misrepresentation, there will likely be a finding of no infringement due to the Rogers test and First Amendment rights.
Plus, patent searches are important to gauge patentability and potential for infringement. However, ensuring the search covers the most important elements will result in the best outcome.
Judge Dismisses Latest Claims in Tiger King Case Finding First Amendment Protection
The Tiger King saga captivated audiences that binged the documentary following Oklahoma zookeeper and social media star, Joe Exotic, as he waged his war against rival Carole Baskin and the movement against keeping big cats captive. But even after the audience explosion has waned, third party legal wrangling involving the show and Tiger King trademark rights continue.
In the latest chapter of litigation involving the Tiger King drama, a judge denied claims of trademark dilution and infringement. In July 2020, Hollywood Weekly Magazine, LLC (“HWM”) and its founder, Prather Jackson, sued Netflix and affiliates claiming various counts of intellectual property infringement for the use of the phrase “Tiger King” in the Netflix documentary about Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin. In particular, Plaintiffs specifically argued that they coined the phrase “The Tiger King” in 2013 and the use of such phrase as well as of the HWM magazine name and copyrighted materials within the Netflix documentary caused them harm.
Read the full article here.
Understanding the Elements and Importance of Patent Searching
Patent searches are performed to obtain valuable insight into potential third-party rights as well as the potential for obtaining a patent registration. A search can help prevent the spending of time and money in the patent prosecution process and/or in the launch of a product that could be in conflict with the rights of a third party.
A proper patent search should include the following:
a professional patent searcher experienced with the relevant technology;
a review of the proper databases and information resources for identifying similar, relevant art; and
review by an experienced patent attorney for providing a patentability and/or potential for infringement opinion based on a review of the patent search results.
Find out more here.
Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.
For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.
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In addition to publishing Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer as well as IP mediation services. For more on the latest developments in IP law, see Ideate blog and IP Questions Answered blog.