From: Jeffrey Sussman, Inc.
Marketing Public Relations
249 East 48 Street FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY 10017

For: Offit Kurman

Contact: Jeffrey Sussman
212-421-4475
[email protected]
www.powerpublicity.com

OFFIT KURMAN ATTORNEY, JONATHAN WACHS,

ISSUES IMPORTANT OCTOBER UPDATE

ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Maple Lawn, MD --- Jonathan Wachs, a principal in the mid-Atlantic law firm of Offit Kurman and head of its Intellectual Property Group, has compiled his most recent important IP news from his weekly blog, Friday Factoids. Below are the issues that Mr. Wachs has chosen:

For September 5, 2014:
On August 8, 2014, a federal judge in California ruled the NCAA's rules prohibiting athletes from being paid for use of their names, images and likeness violate antitrust laws because they constitute an unreasonable restraint on trade.
Source: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24653743/obannon-judge-rules-ncaa-violates-antitrust-law
For September 12, 2014:
Human creativity is required to create a copyright protected image. This concept is now being tested by wildlife photographer David Slater. Slater claims he owns the copyright in a photograph taken of a macaque monkey by the monkey who stole the camera from Slater’s tent. Unfortunately for the photographer of this now-famous image, copyright laws do not protect the IP rights of animals.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/06/just-another-monkey-copyright-story/
For September 19, 2014:
McDonald’s broadly enforces its “Mc” family of trademarks to prevent others from infringing on or diluting its world famous set of brands. On July 14, 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO determined consumers are likely to associate “BioMcDiesel” with McDonald’s products, and it therefore refused to allow the registration of BioMcDiesel for biofuel products.
Source: http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91194117&pty=OPP&eno=98
For September 26, 2014:
In August 2014, The Hershey Company won a preliminary injunction against a Maryland state lawmaker named Stephen S. Hershey, Jr., which prevented the politician from using campaign signs that use the famous brown and white color pattern recognized as the candy maker’s “trade dress.” Trade dress generally refers to characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signify to consumers the source of the product.
Source: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-06-09/news/bs-md-hershey-trademark-20140609_1_state-senator-campaign-signs-hershey-company
About Offit Kurman:
Offit Kurman is the fastest-growing, commercial law firm in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It has offices in Baltimore/Washington; Bethesda, Frederick, Maple Lawn, and Owings Mills, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tysons Corner, Virginia; and Wilmington, Delaware. The firm’s website is http://www.offitkurman.com

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