Can You Trademark Peanut Butter and Jelly? Smucker’s Says Yes.; The New York Times, October 17, 2025

 Yan Zhuang, The New York Times; Can You Trademark Peanut Butter and Jelly? Smucker’s Says Yes.

 "J.M. Smucker, the maker of Uncrustables, is suing Trader Joe’s, accusing the grocery store chain of infringing on its trademarks by selling a copycat version of its popular snack...

You generally can’t trademark foods. Sandwich recipes, or certain combinations of sandwich ingredients, are also “quite plainly not a copyrightable work,” an appeals judge ruled in 2015 in a case involving a Puerto Rico man who had attempted to trademark his chicken sandwich.

But you can trademark the specific shape or configuration of a food product. In this case, Smucker’s says, it has trademarked “a round pie-like shape with distinct peripheral undulated crimping” — a design it says Trader Joe’s has copied.

Smucker’s also accused Trader Joe’s of infringing on its trademark image of “a round crustless sandwich with a bite taken out showing filling on the inside,” which the grocery store chain uses on its packaging.

“Smucker does not take issue with others in the marketplace selling prepackaged, frozen, thaw-and-eat crustless sandwiches. But it cannot allow others to use Smucker’s valuable intellectual property to make such sales,” the company said in its filing."

Morgan & Morgan takes Disney to court over rights to feature ‘Steamboat Willie’ in law firm ads; News6, September 17, 2025

 Phil Landeros , News6; Morgan & Morgan takes Disney to court over rights to feature ‘Steamboat Willie’ in law firm ads

"Morgan & Morgan, Florida’s largest law firm, has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare the law firm’s planned use of the iconic film in an ad is protected against trademark claims from Disney. Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on Jan. 1, 2024, when Disney’s copyright protection expired.

The proposed ad depicts Mickey Mouse in a boat collision with a car, after which the driver seeks legal representation from Morgan & Morgan. According to the filing, before moving forward with the advertisement, the law firm sought assurance from Disney that the commercial wouldn’t trigger legal action. The filing said Disney would not comply."

Content Creators Want Congress To Revamp Decades-Old Copyright Law; Inc., September 25, 2025

BEN BUTLER , Inc., Content Creators Want Congress To Revamp Decades-Old Copyright Law

"“There’s a growing practice of using the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] takedown tools built into platforms to restrict and shut down competition [which] are considered traditionally unfair trade practices,” Kayla Morán, a lawyer specializing in trademark and contract law, said last week during a hearing examining content creators and entrepreneurship before the House Committee on Small Business...

As content creation becomes more lucrative, creators can protect their IP by filing as LLCs, Morán said, shifting the liability from the person to the business. LLCs protect business assets from the owner of the business, creating a distinction between the two. Social media accounts can be protected as business assets, thus giving creators more legal protections if a podcast name gets stolen, for example, or in cases of impersonation.

But filing as an LLC as opposed to being a sole proprietorship requires registration fees and higher costs, which vary by state. And filing as an LLC doesn’t prevent the IP from being stolen, it would protect it from being pursued as an asset in a personal lawsuit against the creator. 

Morán and Christina Brennan, who runs a social media management company, said entrepreneurs they work with don’t have the knowledge of contract law and how taxes on social media earnings work.

One way to help bridge the disconnect, Morán suggests, would be for the Small Business Administration to provide guidance, plus access to lawyers that can advise on common challenges that bubble up for content creators, like with protecting IP."

Gotta Deport ‘Em All? How Should Nintendo Respond To Immigrant-Hunting Social Media Post From DHS?; Above The Law, September 24, 2025

Steven Chung , Above The Law; Gotta Deport ‘Em All? How Should Nintendo Respond To Immigrant-Hunting Social Media Post From DHS?

"Last Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a one-minute video on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media platforms, splicing together clips from the Pokémon anime intro with footage of border patrol agents arresting individuals, all set to the first season’s theme song.

The post’s caption was the famous tagline “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” At the video’s end, it displayed Pokémon cards featuring photos of convicted criminals facing potential deportation...

Reactions were sharply divided: some users found it hilarious and praised its creativity, while others condemned it as dehumanizing and inappropriate, especially for using a children’s franchise to promote immigration enforcement.

Commenters from both sides speculated on how Nintendo would respond, given the company’s reputation for aggressively enforcing its intellectual property rights — evidenced by actions like issuing DMCA takedowns against over 8,500 GitHub repositories for the Yuzu emulator in 2024 and targeting hundreds of fan games on platforms like Game Jolt in multiple waves since 2016. As of now, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have not issued any public statement on the matter, despite requests for comment from media outlets. However, Nintendo has at least three viable options."

Using AI for Work Could Land You on the Receiving End of a Nasty Lawsuit; Futurism, August 23, 2025

 JOE WILKINS , Futurism; Using AI for Work Could Land You on the Receiving End of a Nasty Lawsuit

"For all its hype, artificial intelligence isn't without its psychological, environmental, and even spiritual hazards.

Perhaps the most pressing concern on an individual level, though, is that it puts users on the hook for a nearly infinite number of legal hazards — even at work, as it turns out.

A recent breakdown by The Register highlights the legal dangers of AI use, especially in corporate settings. If you use generative AI software to spit out graphics, press releases, logos, or videos, you and your employer could end up facing six-figure damages, the publication warns.

This is thanks to the vast archive of copyrighted data that virtually all commercial generative AI models are trained on.

The Register uses Nintendo's Mario as a prime example of how one might stumble, intentionally or not, into a massive copyright lawsuit, regardless of intent to infringe: if you use AI to generate a cutesy mascot for your plumbing company that looks too much like the iconic videogame character, you could easily find yourself in the legal crosshairs of the notoriously litigious corporation.

"The real harm comes from the attorney's fees that you can get saddled with," intellectual property lawyer Benjamin Bedrava told the publication. "Because you could have a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in attorney's fees over something where the license would have been fifteen hundred dollars.""

Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case; The Guardian, April 25, 2025

Josh Taylor, The Guardian; Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case

"Others across the globe have found themselves in similar situations. There are posts on Reddit asking what to do after finding a default judgment has been made against them.

“I had no idea ‘Grumpy Cat’ was a thing. ‘Grumpy Cat’ was not even mentioned on my design neither looked my design like their stupid cat,” one poster said.

Prof Graeme Austin, chair in private law at Victoria University in New Zealand, said US trademark law gives courts powers to impose tough damages awards in infringement cases, including statutory damages of up to US$200,000.

“Wholesale default judgment proceedings in trademark and copyright cases are a familiar strategy for intellectual property owners,” he said."

Utah Hockey Club scraps permanent Yeti nickname due to copyright dispute with cooler company; Yahoo Sports, January 29, 2025

 Jack Baer, Yahoo Sports; Utah Hockey Club scraps permanent Yeti nickname due to copyright dispute with cooler company

"The Utah Hockey Club is moving on from a nickname many believed would eventually become its permanent moniker, the Utah Yeti. The primary reason why: a cooler brand.

Mike Maughan, an executive of the team's parent company Smith Entertainment Group, confirmed to reporters Wednesday, per ESPN, that the team would pivot to a different selection of possible names after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected the Yeti name and logo it submitted for approval.

The USPTO specifically cited a "likelihood of confusion" for consumers due to other companies and brands with a similar name, most notably the Yeti Cooler Company. Different companies can feature a similar name if they're in clearly different fields (e.g. the Beatles' Apple Corps and Apple Computers), but it seems likely an NHL team with the same name would clash with certain products, such as the cooler company's apparel line."

Top Trademark Cases in 2024 and What to Watch in 2025; IP Watchdog, December 23, 2024

DYAN FINGUERRA-DUCHARME & MALLORY CHANDLER, IP Watchdog; Top Trademark Cases in 2024 and What to Watch in 2025

"This year was an eventful one for trademark law—from reiterating the importance of “association” under the Lanham Act, to dispelling the notion that foreign conduct can create liability, to re-working the protection of expressive works after Jack Daniel’s. Below outlines a few of the important trademark decisions from 2024 and cases we are watching in 2025." 

Trademark Tussle: When Elves Land on the Naughty List; Holland & Knight IP/Decode Blog, December 23, 2024

Holland & Knight IP/Decode Blog ; Trademark Tussle: When Elves Land on the Naughty List

"CCA and B LLC, the company behind the "Elf on the Shelf" book, merchandise and the joy (or angst) of children everywhere, has found itself in a legal kerfuffle with Elena Jenkins (aka Elena Popova). The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, accuses Ms. Jenkins of willfully infringing CCA and B's ELF ON THE SHELF® trademarks and the copyrighted images of those mischievous elves without permission. On its wish list, CCA and B is asking for an injunction, monetary damages and destruction of all of Ms. Jenkins' rogue elves."

Eat’n Park sends another cease-and-desist over Smiley Cookie branding; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 27, 2024

STEPHANA OCNEANU , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Eat’n Park sends another cease-and-desist over Smiley Cookie branding

"Eat’n Park is set on protecting its iconic Smiley Cookies brand this holiday season.

Alleging trademark infringement, the Homestead-based restaurant chain has sent a cease and desist letter to McArthur’s Bakery in St. Louis for producing a similar smiling cookie business...

EPR Holdings, Inc., tied to the Eat’n Park Restaurants, registered the “Smiley” word trademark in 2007. The accompanying smiley face design used on its cookies and pancakes was registered two years prior. Eat’n Park has sold (and given away) the cookie since the mid 1980s.

“We are not seeking to profit from an agreement with McArthur’s Bakery or to stop their good work; we simply want to do what’s required by the law to uphold our trademarks,” a spokesperson for Eat’n Park told the Post-Gazette in an email...

Should the bakery continue to ignore communication from Eat’n Park, the situation may be taken to court, as has occurred in the past."

Character.AI Confirms Mass Deletion of Fandom Characters, Says They're Not Coming Back; Futurism, November 27, 2024

 MAGGIE HARRISON DUPRÉ , Futurism; Character.AI Confirms Mass Deletion of Fandom Characters, Says They're Not Coming Back

"The embattled AI companion company Character.AI confirmed to Futurism that it removed a large number of characters from its platform, citing its adherence to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) and copyright law, but failing to say whether the deletions were proactive or in response to requests from the holders of the characters' intellectual property rights...

That's not surprising: Character.AI is currently facing a lawsuit brought by the family of a 14-year-old teenager in Florida who died by suicide after forming an intense relationship with a Daenerys Targaryen chatbot on its platform...

It's been a bad few months for Character.AI. In October, shortly before the recent lawsuit was filed, it was revealed that someone had created a chatbot based on a murdered teenager without consent from the slain teen's family. (The character was removed and Character.AI apologized, as AdWeek first reported.) And in recent weeks, we've reported on disturbing hordes of suicide, pedophilia, and eating disorder-themed chatbots hosted by the platform, all of which were freely accessible to Character.AI users of all ages."

Smiley Face Cookie Company, served with cease and desist letter, fights to keep its name and design; KSDK, December 18, 2024

Tracy Hinson (KSDK), Hunter Bassler, Kelsi Anderson, KSDK; Smiley Face Cookie Company, served with cease and desist letter, fights to keep its name and design

"The bakery received a cease and desist letter from Pennsylvania in early 2016, but it was disregarded. A smiley face cookie they started baking in the 70s became the icon for the bakery's adults with disabilities job program in 2021.

"We pretty much kind of ignored that letter and just thought, 'Hey, we have precedence, so we can keep making these cookies,'" Rinaberger said. "We received a second one in 2022, never heard from the trademark owners until recently when we received an email following up from their attorneys asking what our action plans were to stop calling them smiley cookies."

In a statement to 5 On Your Side, Pennsylvania's Eat'nPark management said they own the federally registered trademarks for Smiley as it relates to cookies, and for the iconic Smiley Face design they've been using on cookies since the 1980s.

What the St. Louis company is worried about most is losing the recognition of seeing Smiley Face Cookie Company in local stores.

"One of the areas that we think we have precedence, besides us doing it before they had their trademark, is it's becoming quite generic and there are hundreds of bakeries around the United States making smile cookies and calling them either smiley face cookies or smile cookies," Rinaberger said.

And for those reasons, they aren't going to let Smiley Face Cookie Company crumble. There is a GoFundMe set up to help with the Smiley Face Cookie Company's legal expenses.

An Eat'nPark spokesperson sent the following statement to 5 On Your Side:

"McArthur’s Bakery is doing important and meaningful work, and we respect their mission. For some time, however, we had reached out to McArthur’s Bakery to engage in a conversation about our trademarks. Unfortunately, they ignored our outreach and our efforts to initiate good-faith conversations."

Grinch-themed holiday photos may be copyright infringement. What to know.; USA Today, December 9, 2024

Max HauptmanMary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today; Grinch-themed holiday photos may be copyright infringement. What to know.

"As the holidays approach, family photographers should keep in mind one fact − copyright laws do exist, and they can be enforced.

Last year, a photographer in Knoxville, Tennessee, took to social media to note that holiday-themed photo shoots using popular pop culture icons like The Grinch of Dr. Seuss fame could be subject to violations of copyright laws.

"Friendly reminder that shooting Grinch-themed photo sessions FOR A PROFIT (that’s the important part… if you’re not charging a fee you’re good) is federal trademark infringement," Tennessee photographer Anna Smith wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post."

Intellectual Property In Horticulture: A Guide To Plant Patents And Trademarks; Forbes, December 4, 2024

Tammy Sons, Forbes ; Intellectual Property In Horticulture: A Guide To Plant Patents And Trademarks

"The Role Of Patents In Horticulture

Patents play an important role in horticulture:

• Encouraging innovation: Creating new varieties of plants involves investing a lot in research. Plant patents encourage breeders to keep on creating different plant varieties.

• Market share protection: After breeders develop a particular variety of plant, they decide on its production and sale. No competitor has the right to propagate the variety for sale without special permission; hence, this privilege gives the breeder a competitive edge.

A way to gain income: Patents can enable breeders to license their varieties to other growers or nurseries. These licenses enable those breeders to make sales. Popular varieties' profits may come from the licensing agreement...

The Place Of Trademarks In The Horticulture Industry

Trademarks can give the following advantages to horticulture businesses:

• Brand differentiation: A good trademark will enable a firm to set itself apart from its competitors and build consumer loyalty. In horticulture, for instance, a nursery firm might have dozens of items similar to those of other nurseries; hence, recognition by trademark can make quite a difference in attracting and retaining customers.

• Legal protection: USPTO registration protects against infringement of any kind. If another company tries to sell using a similar brand name, logo or product name, a trademark holder can sue that company for creating confusion in the market."

What's in a Name Anyway? Trademark Basics for Community Associations; The National Law Review, December 6, 2024

Erica B. E. Rogers of Ward and Smith, P.A. , The National Law Review; What's in a Name Anyway? Trademark Basics for Community Associations

"This article explores the essentials of trademark rights, their relevance for community associations, and the balance between protecting these trademarks versus respecting the free speech of homeowners...

IV. VALUE PROPOSITION FOR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

Trademark rights are crucial for protecting the identity and reputation of a community association. They help prevent confusion among property owners and prospective residents by ensuring that the association's name and symbols remain distinct. However, while trademarks are valuable tools for community associations to deter unauthorized use, they cannot be used to silence opinions or criticisms. Understanding this balance is essential for effectively managing and enforcing trademark rights in a manner that respects both legal protections and fundamental freedoms of the property owners."

Read the cease-and-desist letter UC sent to middle school about logo, Bearcats name; Cincinnati Enquirer, December 2, 2024

 Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer; Read the cease-and-desist letter UC sent to middle school about logo, Bearcats name

"With Cheatham on the hunt for a new name, another Cincinnati university offered up its mascot free of charge.

Anthony Breen, the CEO of Synergistic, a marketing agency in Cincinnati that works with Xavier, said the company, along with Xavier, had pledged to rebrand and redesign Cheatham's logo, mascot and wordmark. They will also provide other needed marketing support.

But it all comes with one caveat: The middle school must agree to become "Musketeers."...

Musketeer Gear, a nonprofit founded by Xavier alumni in 2022, also released a new white T-shirt that features the outline of Tennessee with "Cheatham Musketeers" written in navy blue letters. The shirts are priced at $35 and all proceeds will go directly to the middle school...

Jeff Hobbs, athletic director for Cheatham County School District, said Nov. 25 that Xavier University itself had not yet reached out to the school, and that "Musketeers" is among the names currently being considered."

Buc-ee's is suing this Missouri-based liquor store for trademark infringement; Springfield News-Leader, December 3, 2024

Marta Mieze, Springfield News-Leader; Buc-ee's is suing this Missouri-based liquor store for trademark infringement

"In the lawsuit, Buc-ee's accuses Duckees of violating company's rights protected by the trademarks by adopting an allegedly similar logo and using it on clothing and retail store services featuring convenience store items. The Duckees logo includes a cartoon sunglasses-wearing duck in a green shirt and red bowtie inside of a yellow circle that appears to be printed on a bottle cap. Buc-ee's claims this logo uses "the most important aspects of the iconic Buc-ee's logo" by including a cartoon animal, a yellow circle as the background and prominent black edges for the mascot."

Meghan Markle asks US Patent Office for more time to correct American Riviera Orchard trademark application; New York Post, November 29, 2024

Nika Shakhnazarova, New York Post; Meghan Markle asks US Patent Office for more time to correct American Riviera Orchard trademark application

"Meghan Markle has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office for extra time to launch her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has faced a slew of ongoing trademark troubles since announcing the brand’s impending launch in March.

In documents obtained by The Post, the “Suits” alum’s legal team has requested a three-month extension in her attempt to secure a trademark for the yet-to-be released brand...

Rival lifestyle brand Harry & David filed a protest against Markle’s lifestyle brand, claiming the name is far too similar to its “Royal Riviera” product line."

Penn State wins trademark case over retailer’s use of vintage logos, images; AP, November 21, 2024

MARYCLAIRE DALE, AP ; Penn State wins trademark case over retailer’s use of vintage logos, images

"Penn State has won a closely watched trademark fight over an online retailer’s use of its vintage sports logos and images."

Cincinnati threatens to sue middle school over copyright, Xavier campaigns to replace mascot; On3.com, November 22, 2024

 Nick Schultz, On3.com; Cincinnati threatens to sue middle school over copyright, Xavier campaigns to replace mascot

"“A few months ago, we were alerted to the use of the University of Cincinnati’s trademarks by Cheatham Middle School,” the statement read. “When we or our licensing agency, the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), identify infringing activity, the other party is contacted to educate them about the University’s rights and request they stop using the marks. As part of this process, we requested CMS to identify the various ways in which they have adopted UC’s identity so we can understand the full scale of what is involved to address the matter.

“We appreciate Cheatham Middle School’s interest in using UC’s iconic trademarks, which are recognized both nationally and globally. But CMS never requested permission to do so. Just as many other universities and recognizable brands make significant investment to protect their own marks, we reserve the right for exclusive use of the UC marks. We understand this may cause some inconveniences, but we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the University’s rights to its marks.”"