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Full-Text Articles in Law
Some Key Things U.S. Entrepreneurs Need To Know About The Law And Lawyers, Lawrence J. Trautman, Anthony J. Luppino, Malika Simmons
Some Key Things U.S. Entrepreneurs Need To Know About The Law And Lawyers, Lawrence J. Trautman, Anthony J. Luppino, Malika Simmons
Faculty Works
New business formation is a powerful economic engine that creates jobs. Diverse legal issues are encountered as a start-up entity approaches formation, initial capitalization and fundraising, arrangements with employees and independent contractors, and relationships with other third parties. The endeavors of a typical start-up in the United States will likely implicate many of the following areas of law: intellectual property; business organizations; tax laws; employment and labor laws; securities regulation; contracts and licensing agreements; commercial sales; debtor-creditor relations; real estate law; health and safety laws/codes; permits and licenses; environmental protection; industry specific regulatory laws and approval processes; tort/personal injury, products …
Disparaging Trademarks: Who Matters, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
Disparaging Trademarks: Who Matters, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
Faculty Works
For more than a century, non-majority groups have protested the use of trademarks comprised of or containing terms referencing the group — albeit for various reasons. For those trademarks that are offensive to targeted groups, some may argue that the market will solve. In other words, some may assume that purchasers in the marketplace will respect the objection, there will be insufficient purchases of the product under the mark, and the mark will disappear. However, objections raised by smaller populations in the United States often fall on deaf ears, and the marks continue to be used in the marketplace. The …
Is A Rose By Any Other Image Still A Rose? Disconnecting Dilution’S Similarity Test From Traditional Trademark Concepts, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
Is A Rose By Any Other Image Still A Rose? Disconnecting Dilution’S Similarity Test From Traditional Trademark Concepts, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
Faculty Works
Federal dilution doctrine suffers the typical growing pains of an adolescent struggling to determine its identity and boundaries. Congress did not create a federal dilution claim until 1995 and significantly amended in 2006. As currently conceived in the Lanham Act, a federal dilution by blurring claim involves the owner of a famous, [senior] mark bringing suit against the owner of a junior mark, which must be used after the senior mark has achieved fame, but only if the junior mark is sufficiently similar to impair the distinctiveness of the senior mark. The statute identifies several factors that can be used …
To Live In In-‘Fame’-Y: Reconceiving Scandalous Marks As Analogous To Famous Marks, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
To Live In In-‘Fame’-Y: Reconceiving Scandalous Marks As Analogous To Famous Marks, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik
Faculty Works
In 1905, Congress enacted a revised trademark registration act, which included a prohibition on registering marks containing or consisting of scandalous or immoral material. Because Congress failed to provide any further guidance either in legislative history or in the statutory language, administrative bodies and the courts have struggled to define this standard. Over the past century, decisions applying this prohibition have been inconsistent. The general public and potential trademark owners are unable to predict accurately if a mark will be accepted or refused for federal registration, which has some significant benefits. Perhaps because of this uncertainty, some estimate that hundreds …