The Maya Archaeology Initiative is fighting back against claims by Kellogg North America that a bird depicted in MAI's logo is too similar to "Toucan Sam," the fictional spokesbird for Froot Loops cereal. MAI, a non-profit that supports education for…
Thanks for your responses to my question about who if anyone owns the legal rights to a monkey photographer's work. The responses varied, although none were too favorable to the monkey. Here are some thoughts, with the disclaimer that I'm…
When I wrote last week about the legal issues raised by picture-taking monkeys, I was about to email the agency that appeared to be claiming rights in those photos to ask for comment, but held off because I suspected its…
Here's an excellent question (via the Legal Satyricon): if a monkey steals your camera and takes a bunch of pictures with it, who (if anyone) owns the rights to the pictures? After three days of hanging out with some crested…
Turns out Samuel Clemens invented more than Tom Sawyer: Actually, although it does look like a bra clasp, which is what this report assumed it was, the Patent and Trademark Office says that Clemens' idea was for a device that could be used to…
The Hollywood Reporter law blog reports that the Second Circuit has rejected claims by Robert Cabell that Adam Sandler, and the other people responsible for the film "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," stole Cabell's idea. We now know that the answer…
As you may recall, Round 1 of IHOP v. IHOP began last year, when International House of Pancakes sued International House of Prayer for trademark dilution. That case was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, but was dismissed in December, reportedly…
I suppose it should not be surprising that Sarah Palin has filed an application to register her name as a trademark. But having learned that, it is not at all surprising that the application was rejected because she forgot to…
Not only do the former members of Guns N' Roses not get along, Axl Rose even hates the cartoon version of Slash that appears in Guitar Hero III. Axl sued Activision this week, claiming that it had fraudulently induced him…
TechCrunch reports that Facebook, Inc., which apparently operates some sort of social-networking website, has been sued by Lamebook, LLC. Lamebook, which accepts and reposts funny and lame stuff users come across on Facebook — that is, it's sort of the FAILBlog…