The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA), enacted on December 27, 2020 as part of the coronavirus relief bill, made significant changes to federal trademark law.  The TMA creates a handful of new tools which trademark owners can use to challenge false or inaccurate claims of trademark rights.  It also resolves a fifteen-year-old circuit split…

This article was updated on November 24, 2020. Mississippi is the latest state to legalize and approve access to medical marijuana. The measure, called Initiative 65[i], was approved overwhelmingly by voters on November 3, 2020. A number of bills to authorize medical (and even recreational) marijuana have been proposed during the last few…

A recent opinion from the Supreme Court in Mission Prod. Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, 139 S. Ct. 1652 (2019), reaffirms that bankruptcy does not change all that much. The Supreme Court has long recognized the distinction between the equitable administration of property and claims imposed by federal bankruptcy law and the creation and definition…

The new year is as much a time for reflection as it is for resolution.  With this in mind, I’d like to briefly look back at last year’s franchise law developments in Mississippi. On the legislative front, 2018 saw a major change to Mississippi’s franchise statute [FN1].  Until recently, this statute regulated both franchises and…

There are many reasons why a franchisor should register its trademarks and service marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  But since not all marks can be registered, there are a few things that franchisors should keep in mind when applying. First, only the owner of the mark may apply for registration. …

In a highly anticipated opinion, this morning the United States Supreme Court affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s authority to reconsider and cancel already-issued patents via the inter partes review process under the America Invents Act.  The 7-2 decision in Oil States Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, from which Justice Gorsuch and…

In an Initial Decision released on October 30th, Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell has upheld the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint against 1-800 Contacts, Inc. involving trademark use in online keyword advertising. 1-800 Contacts’ competitors had been bidding on 1-800 Contacts’ trademarks on internet search auctions like Google AdWords.  So, for example, when a…