In the recent comedy DICKIE ROBERTS, David Spade is seen sliding (and crashing) on a SLIP N’ SLIDE, a yellow plastic sheet intended to be used when inflated and wet.  AP reports that Wham-O, manufacturers of the SLIP N’ SLIDE product, has sued, arguing that the depiction of the product was unauthorized, and encourages the unsafe use of…

$41.9 million in damages against Yum Brands, owner of Taco Bell, for misappropriating idea of talking Chihuahua, via NY Lawyer.

Talking Dog audio clips here.

UPDATE: A take on the story from the new BUSINESS LESSONS blog.

In 1989 Apple Computer paid Apple Corps. (the Beatles’ label) $27 million to settle a trademark lawsuit.  I believe that Apple also paid several million in legal fees at the time (Apple’s unsuccessful attempt at getting insurance to pay its fees reported here).  Without seeing the 1989 settlement agreement, I can’t comment on the…

NY Times article (free registration required) on societal attitudes towards file sharing, plagiarism and buying ‘knock-off’ goods.

Al Fross, the Fross of Fross Zelnick, died a year ago yesterday.

Many opinions on the Zuccarini’s attempts to profit off typos here.

Many opinions on Verisign’s attempts to profit off typos here.

The legal advice in this eBook, ‘Name Copyrights’, namely that you can avoid getting tickets for moving violations by having your ‘name copyrighted’ is likely incorrect.  To the best of my knowledge,  no provisions of either the Lanham Act or the Copyright Act will provide protection against moving violations or parking tickets for that matter.  Both…

The Pew Research Center has released a report in its “Pew Internet and American Life” series.  The report is available here.  The introduction states (emphasis mine):

“The struggle to enforce copyright laws in the digital age continues to be an uphill battle for content owners. Data gathered from Pew Internet & American Life Project

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