Intellectual Property Matters

September 19, 2017December 6, 2017

Dark Web Drug Dealer’s Trademark Application Gets Him Nailed

The subject of this article could be filed in the category of “dumb criminals.” And here’s why.

In 2015, David Ryan Buchard of Merced, California, was already under investigation by the US Postal Inspector and a special agent for Homeland Security Investigation (“HSI”) for suspicion of drug dealing. They believed that Buchard was doing his transactions on a dark web drug marketplace known as The Silk Road. They were trying to track Buchard’s Bitcoin transactions on The Silk Road. Bitcoin is a form of digital money technically known as “crypto-currency,” as opposed to “fiat-currency” (i.e., money created and regulated by governments). Crypto-currencies, including Bitcoin, are legal for private transactions, but are very often used by drug traffickers because the users’ real identities are cloaked by pseudonyms.

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September 12, 2017December 6, 2017

Is Your Brand Generic? — When Grilled Meat Means Just Grilled Meat

Too often businesses, in conceiving their brand names and the marks/logos that represent their brands, adopt really weak marks that can have disastrous consequences. In the case at hand, a restaurant chain adopted as its service mark a Spanish/Portuguese word that literally means “grilled meat” in English. As it turned out, it seems that “grilled meat” means nothing more than “grilled meat” rather than a brand name for the restaurant’s services.

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August 22, 2017December 6, 2017

The Era of Fake — Solicitations from Fake “Official” Trademark Offices

At least once a month, clients send me urgent messages that they received notices that appear to be official government correspondence about their trademark applications or trademark registrations. Typically, these notices (sometimes even in the form of an invoice) demand the payment of various fees to insure their trademarks are in compliance. However, on a quick review of these notices, it becomes immediately apparent they are all bogus. In the last several years there has been a growing cottage industry of private companies trolling for customers by using misleading trademark “notices.” They often charge fees for services that are not necessary or are often inflated from the official government fees. The problem has become so pervasive that the actual U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) held a public seminar last month on the matter and devotes a page to it on the actual, official USPTO website to educate the public.

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October 11, 2016November 29, 2017

Online Services Mislead About Copyright Protection

A new app has recently launched via Twitter. Blockai, a San Francisco based enterprise promotes its Twitter app as a means for artists to “register” their copyrights. Blockai’s website claims that they are: “Democratizing Copyright. Most artists cannot afford to register and protect their copyrights. We’re providing a free alternative.” By using a blockchain database, based on Bitcoin protocol, Blockai instantly time-stamps an uploaded work and provides a “certificate of publication.” The whole process is very easy and very fast. In fact, below is my Blockai “certificate of publication” for one of my photographs “Golden Hour Reflection.” Very official looking.

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March 10, 2016November 29, 2017

IKEA Loses Its Trademark Highlighting The Lesson — Use It Or Lose It

Home furnishing giant IKEA has lost its brand name and trademark in Indonesia. Indonesia’s highest court ruled that the IKEA trademark is owned by the local company PT Ratania Khatulistiwa. PT Ratania uses the acronym IKEA for “Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi,” which refers to the rattan industry. The court rendered its decision last May, but it was only recently published.

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