Zoom Confusion: The Case for Trademarks

By: Stacey C. Friends The recent news about Zoom and the stock market is a perfect example of why trademarks are important, and also why trademark law does not allow similar marks for similar goods or services. Two companies with the same name - Zoom - both offer technology goods or services. Zoom Video Communications is the …

EU & UK Trademarks: Navigating the changing landscape post-Brexit

By: Stacey C. Friends As of January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom is no longer a part of the European Union. What does this mean for companies with trademark registrations (patents are not affected) designating the EU but not the UK separately? Following Brexit there will be a transition period starting Jan. 31, 2020 and …

MBBP’s Howard Zaharoff Will Be a Panelist in Boston Bar’s 17th Annual Intellectual Property Year in Review

MBBP's Howard Zaharoff will be a panelist at this year's Boston Bar Association Intellectual Property Year in Review, one of Boston's premier annual IP events. Howard will be discussing some of the most important copyright developments of the past year, with his co-presenter, Attorney Lucy Lovrien. This annual panel has been organized for intellectual property specialists to …

Howard Zaharoff and Erin Bryan Speaking at 2016 Intellectual Property Law Conference

Intellectual Property Law 2016: The 19th Annual New England Conference will take place on June 23rd at the MCLE Conference Center in Boston, MA. This conference will focus on new developments, trends, and industry-specific guidance that IP, business, and litigation counsel must know. MBBP attorneys Howard Zaharoff and Erin Bryan are both on the Faculty, with Howard …

Trademark Owners Must Act Now to Block .xxx Domain Names

By: Greg Krakau A new generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) designed for use by adult businesses will go live in December of 2011. The new gTLD will be .xxx, and trademark owners who operate in other industries should act soon if they wish to block adult businesses from using their marks in .xxx domain names. Click …

The ABCs for Life Sciences Entrepreneurs: From Start-Up to Exit

Thinking about starting or joining a life sciences company, now or in the future? If so, please join Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton for a series of engaging and interactive discussions on the basic topics with which entrepreneurs in the life sciences today must be familiar. There will be four sessions, each covering a different topic: …

Generic Terms Are Not – and Can Never Be – Trademarks

By: Howard Zaharoff Suppose you (or your client) is in the cupcake business and decides to purchase and brand the domain name “cupcakes.com.” Can this be done? I don’t mean, could you buy the URL? (The answer is “no”: it’s apparently owned by NA Media and used as a portal for dessert, food, baking and …