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Laws and social attitudes regarding cannabis have changed dramatically in recent years. Medical and/or recreational cannabis use is now legal in some form in the vast majority of states (including medical use in Alabama). The cannabis industry also received a boost under the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized cannabis and cannabis-derived products containing 0.3% or less THC (known as “hemp”). With an estimated market value of $14.9 billion in 2021, entrepreneurs in the legal cannabis industry are eagerly seeking IP protection for their products. But is such protection even possible? It’s complicated, as an Alabama intellectual property lawyer explains below. 

With the proliferation of smartphones in the past decade and a half, apps have become ubiquitous. From streaming video to social networking to banking to doing your taxes, there is an app for everything. Some major businesses, such as Uber, Tinder, and Instagram, are app-first or even app-only, with their primary method of customer engagement coming overwhelmingly through a smartphone app interface. With more and more traditional goods and services being accessed through smartphone apps, forward-thinking businesses can incorporate their app icons into their larger trademark strategies with the assistance of an Alabama trademark lawyer. 

Trademark protection is essential for protecting your brand. Not only does a trademark differentiate your goods for services from those of others, but it also allows you to build goodwill with consumers through the trademark’s association with superior quality products or services. As such, you want to make sure that you pick a trademark that will offer your brand the most protection possible. Not all trademarks are equal; some offer stronger protection than others. An Alabama trademark lawyer can help you select and register a trademark that will deliver the protection your brand needs. 

Two of the premier athletic and lifestyle brands on the planet — “athleisure” wear retailer Lululemon and exercise equipment maker Peloton — are locking horns over product designs, and that fight has now spilled over into court. In early November, Lululemon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Peloton stating that it would sue Peloton unless Peloton stopped selling “copy-cat” Lululemon products. On November 29, Lululemon made good on its promise, suing Peloton for patent infringement and arguing that the designs for some of its leggings and sports bras infringed six of Lululemon’s design patents. Brush up on the case with the help of an Alabama intellectual property lawyer below. 

The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) was passed in December 2020 and is slated to go into effect on December 18 of this year. Rather than making sweeping, substantive changes to trademark law, the TMA is intended to give the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) new avenues for removing unused or fraudulent trademark registrations from the federal trademark register. Such registrations add “dead weight” to the trademark register and can prevent legitimate trademark applicants from registering their marks. Among other provisions, the TMA does this by creating two new procedures for challenging unused trademark registrations: ex parte expungement and ex parte reexamination. If you are having difficulty registering your trademark due to an existing, unused registration, please contact an Alabama trademark lawyer.