Author: Jeffrey Cadwell

Jeff advises clients on the availability, registrability, and strength of proposed trademarks in both the United States and abroad, and assists clients with developing strategies for protecting and enforcing their trademark rights. He also counsels on copyright issues, and obtains copyright registrations for clients.

A Trademark By Any Other Name…

The Lanham Act prohibits registration on the Principal Register of a mark that is “primarily merely a surname” unless an applicant can show that the mark has acquired secondary meaning such that consumers perceive the surname as an identifier of source.  15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(4).  Alternatively, continue reading...

YouTube

YouTube to Take a Stand for Fair Use

As we have written elsewhere on this blog, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that copyright owners must consider fair use before submitting takedown requests to internet service providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).  The DMCA provides a “notice and takedown” continue reading...

New Exemptions to the DMCA

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998, prohibits users of copyrighted works from circumventing technological measures placed on those works (e.g., encryption), subject to limited exemptions.  Some of the exemptions are permanent, such as reverse engineering to ensure interoperability.  Other exemptions are revisited continue reading...