J. Michael Keyes is an intellectual property attorney with extensive trial and litigation experience in cases involving trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition and false advertising. He has tried several cases in federal courts across the United States. LinkedIn | Twitter @JMichaelKeyes
As we noted here last week, the Director of the USPTO filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting that it review the Federal Circuit’s en banc decision, In re Tam. That decision held Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act…
Today, the USPTO made it official: It formally requested the U.S. Supreme Court to review the en banc Federal Circuit decision that held Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act violated the First Amendment. The USPTO’s Petition can be found here. At issue in the case…
In August 2015, the film Straight Outta Compton was released. It’s a biopic about the struggles of several young African American males who formed the musical group “N.W.A.” back in the 1980s. A key player in the film is N.W.A.’s manager, Jerry Heller, who managed…
Late last year, Simon Tam and his legal team scored a big-time victory: they convinced the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (sitting en banc) that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act violated the First Amendment. The Court remanded the case to the TTAB for…
The Supreme Court passed on an opportunity to review a recent appellate court decision holding that a video game publisher is not protected by the First Amendment for using the likenesses of former NFL football stars in the widely popular Madden NFL video game series….
While many were focused on “The Big Dance” yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did some “dancing” of its own. The Court issued a revised opinion in Lenz v. Universal and thereby amended what has been referred to as the “Dancing Baby” Doctrine. Last…
It’s a wonderfully maddening time of year. “Selection Sunday” (all 2+ hours of it!) is in the rear view mirror, collegiate teams are scurrying off for their opening games, and millions of basketball fans are spending countless work hours filling out those brackets. Ah, March…
In Dryer v. The National Football League, three former gridiron gladiators who played in the NFL had their claims for right of publicity under state law tossed out by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. These three players (and twenty others who initially joined them)…
It turns out that SpongeBob Squarepants is more than just an absorbent, yellow and porous cartoon character who lives in a pineapple under the sea. He can also teach us an important lesson about trademark licensing and liability. Nautical nonsense, you say? Read on about…
As we kick off “Oscar Week” here at TheTMCA.com, it is particularly apropos to discuss a decision just handed down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals involving the critically acclaimed movie, The Hurt Locker. It is a powerful film about a team of U.S….
Jeffrey CadwellJeff advises clients on the availability, registrability, and stre...
Michael KeyesJ. Michael Keyes is an intellectual property attorney with exten...
Kaleb McNeelyAs a partner in the Trial Group, Kaleb practices primarily in the ...
Sarah RobertsonSarah has over fifteen years’ experience helping clients prot...
Fara SunderjiFara assists clients in the development and execution of all type...
Charlene KroghCharlene Krogh is a Partner in Dorsey’s top-ranked Tradem...
Evan EveristEvan is a partner in Dorsey’s Trademark, Copyright and Adverti...