Here’s a reminder – while it’s nice to receive unsolicited email and instant messages (about trademarks, not Nigerian bank scams), such contacts are at most initial or peripheral contacts, that will not create an attorney-client relationship for purposes of privilege, malpractice or conflicts of interest.  While I agree to keep such communications confidential, bear in mind that Internet communications may be inherently insecure. 

Some people write to ask me for ‘curbside’ opinions.  When there is an identifiable adverse party, it is prudent to identify the adverse party before you disclose information that you deem to be confidential.

A candidate for mayor of Hudson, NY, formed The Bottom Line Party.  The incumbent mayor quickly filed petitions to run under The Bottom Line Party name, claiming that no one can own a political party name (and keeping the opponent off the ballot under that party line).  For now, the matter is in state court, and a Federal Court won’t intervene.

 

If you review advertising and promotional material for your clients, and they use terms such as DOMINANT, LEADING and PREMIER in their copy to describe themselves or their products, you may want to bring this story from By No Other, to their attention.  It discusses the possible legal exposure (in a securities law context) from using puffery.

Also – always good advice – if your client doesn’t provide cable services, it shouldn’t say in its press releases that it provides cable services.

From a sidebar story to this article on Nike from Westchester’s The Journal News:

Nike got its name when its first employee, Jeff Johnson, had a dream about Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory.  The chief executive , Phil Knight, chose NIKE over the other name he was considering, DIMENSION 6.

The NIKE swoosh was designed by Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student, for $35.