For nearly a century, Wolf Greenfield has helped clients protect their most valuable intellectual property. The firm offers a full range of IP services, including patent prosecution and litigation; post-grant proceedings, including IPRs; opinions and strategic counseling; licensing; intellectual property audits and due diligence; trademark and copyright prosecution and litigation; and other issues related to the commercialization of intellectual property.
with readers working within the Healthcare and Law Firm industries
The September-October issue of The Trademark Reporter
[pdf of full issue here]
includes Daniel R. Bereskin's article on Trademark Rights and
Freedom of Competition in Canada, a commentary by Dr. Martin
Viefhues on the Court of Justice of the European Union's
SkyKick decision, and Yashvardhan Rana's review of the
book, Internet Intermediaries and Trade Mark Rights, by
Althaf Marsoof. This blog post focuses on Lisa Pearson's
entertaining commentary, "The Real Life of Fictional
Trademarks"
I confess that I have never seen The Dukes of Hazzard,
Sponge Bob Squarepants, or Empire. Be that as it
may, I am sure you will enjoy Lisa Pearson's commentary as much
as I did.
Entertainment and media providers
have progressed well beyond the simplistic animated worlds of
Saturday morning cartoons. They have created ever more complex,
immersive, and interactive universes to engage audiences. The
brands appearing in those universes may be real, imaginary, or a
mix. In the United States, it is not uncommon for someone to launch
a real product or service under a formerly fictional trademark or
service mark to capitalize on the popularity of the property in
which it originally appeared. Conversely, a fictional brand name in
an entertainment property may bear more than a passing resemblance
to an actual brand in the material world.
Consumers, intellectual property lawyers, and even judges take
delight in the mind-bending implications of brands that traverse
parallel universes, real and imaginary.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
