Mass Law Blog
Intellectual property and business litigation, Massachusetts and nationallyWritten by humans
Lee Gesmer’s Mass Law Blog began in 2005, and contains almost 600 posts. The site initially focused on Massachusetts law, but today it follows business and intellectual property law nation-wide. The site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm represents startup and established companies in the areas of litigation, transactions (including financings, mergers and acquisitions), IP rights, taxation, employment law, standards consortia, business counseling and open source development projects and foundations. You can find a summary of the firm’s services here. To learn how Gesmer Updegrove can help you, contact: Lee Gesmer
Supreme Court Will Decide if “generic.com” Trademarks Are Entitled to Trademark Protection
Have you ever used the website booking.com to make a hotel reservation? If you are familiar with this site and I asked whether you thought BOOKING.COM is a brand name or a generic term, what would you say? Odds are you’d say it is a brand name - 75% of people surveyed thought so.Consumers were given a so-called “Teflon survey,” which is widely accepted as valid in trademark litigation. In this type of survey respondents are given a primer on the distinction between the generic or common...
Oracle v. Google Resources Page
Click here to access my Resources Page on Oracle v. Google, currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Dirty Politics – How is This Like Lawyering?
“When they go low, we go high” Michelle Obama “You can't waller with the pigs and not get dirty” Anon As I’ve watched the political events of the last few years I’ve heard each side argue that their side needs to “fight dirty” to match the tactics of the opposing party. I'm not going to voice an opinion on the political issues raised by these arguments, but I've learned one thing from personal experience: if you are an ethical litigator you are likely to be faced with a similar personal...
“Contract, Combination or Conspiracy” – Can Peloton’s Lawsuit Survive the Music Publishers’ Motion to Dismiss?
This is a brief follow-up to my earlier post, Copyright Infringement? Peloton Punches Back With Antitrust. Under Section 1 of the Sherman Act a “contact, combination or conspiracy” in restraint of trade is illegal. However, the Sherman Act says nothing about how much evidence is necessary to file a lawsuit alleging an illegal antitrust conspiracy. In other words, what factual allegations do you need in the complaint to avoid having it dismissed? In lawyer-speak: “what do we need to get into...
This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact:
Lee Gesmer