Archives for August 2014

Celebrities have long registered trademarks for their names.  Now, college football coaches are getting into the trademark game, too.  USC football coach Steve Sarkisian has registered a trademark for “Sark” and “Coach Sark” for clothing and an online retail store, according to CBSSports.Com and Trademarks + Brands.  Apparently, other coaches have already gotten into the act, including the coaches from Auburn, Ohio State and Clemson.  After the landmark decision ruling that the NCAA could not prevent players from selling the rights to their names and likenesses, we can expect college athletes to be trademarking their names as well.

For the full story from Trademarks + Brands, click here.

To read about the ruling against the NCAA regarding compensation of college athletes for use of their likenesses, see CNN’s story here.

For more information about CASTAYBERT PLLC’s intellectual property law and trademark practice, click here.

August 20, 2014 – André Castaybert, principal attorney at CASTAYBERT PLLC, has joined the American Constitution Society for Law and Public Policy, a network of legal professionals and policy makers who seek to educate the public and stimulate a healthy debate about issues that affect American society, such as access to justice, voting rights, workplace and environmental issues and constitutional interpretation and change.  As the ACS describes itself, “the strength of [its] ideas and the scope of its nationwide network enable it to make a difference in legal and public policy debates and ensure that law is a force to improve the lives of all people.”

To learn more about the ACS, visit their website.

For information about CASTAYBERT PLLC’s pro bono activities, visit our pro bono practice area.

 

There’s no such thing as “just a text” anymore.  Just as this quick and easy means of communication has made its way into most of our personal lives, it has also become an everyday tool in workplace communications.  This raises some issues worth considering, and failing to do so could even result in sanctions for spoliation of evidence.

Texting at Work

The line between casual communications and discoverable documents is growing finer as employees increasingly use texting as a means of communicating at work, particularly at companies that have “bring your own device” policies.  Given that, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 97% of all cell phone users between 18 and 29 years of age send and receive texts, and 94% of users between 30 and 49 years of age do, it’s very likely that a fair amount of work-related content is being shared via text messages. Discovery requests seeking some of these texts will logically follow in the event of litigation, and the courts have already made clear in several cases that failure to preserve this evidence is sanctionable.

Review Your Policy

What should you and your company do to adapt? For one thing, any document retention policy in effect must cover text messages.  Whether or not the company encourages or even allows communicating via text message on company-owned devices, if the company is aware that such communication is possible, its document retention policy should cover text messages.

Explore these links to learn about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can help you with employment law, employee handbooks, e-discovery and social media.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

It’s difficult to imagine launching a marketing campaign in any business, let alone in the fashion industry, without using social media.  These tools can introduce more would-be customers to your product and do it faster than ever imaginable, and they do it in a way that blurs the line between business and personal communication.  Where’s the downside there?  There needn’t be any downside, as long as you live by certain social media rules and principles to avoid trouble. Here are some basic guidelines:

No Unsubstantiated Claims

Be prepared to defend any claims with the same sort of substantiating documentation that you would any claims made using “traditional” advertising and marketing.  Just because your message has been distilled to a 140 character tweet, doesn’t mean that it won’t be scrutinized by competitors or consumers.  Monitor your pages on social media sites for contributions from third-party contributors, as this content is your responsibility, too.

What’s Yours and What’s not

The same intellectual property rules that apply to traditional media apply to social media.  This is important to keep in mind whether it’s a question of verbal content or images.  “Sharing” can easily turn into infringing on intellectual property rights if content such as photographs, video or any other original art work is appropriated without permission.  Trademark is a similarly tricky area, and you should seek legal advice if you have any doubt whether your use of another company’s trademark could confuse consumers as to the origin of its products or services.

For more information about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can help you with social media issues, explore our social media page.

To learn about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can assist you in matters of intellectual property law, explore our intellectual property law practice area, and related topics on that page.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

August 18, 2014 – André Castaybert has joined the French American Chamber of Commerce.  The FACC runs programs and serves as an exchange for information among businesses in France and the United States.  Recent panel discussions hosted by the Chamber include a discussion of recent French and U.S. tax reforms, a forum on “The Digital Workplace”,  issues pertinent to the luxury industry, a panel discussion on compliance in U.S. labor and employment, entrepreneurship and many more.

Recent speakers have included:

The Hon. François Delattre, French Ambassador to the United States
Daniel Boulud, Chef-Owner, The Dinex Group
Dr. Julia Coronado, Chief U.S. Economist – BNP Paribas
Franck Moison, Chief Operating Officer – Emerging Markets, Colgate-Palmolive
Bruno Bich, Chairman, The BIC Corporation
Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Brant Cryder, President, Yves Saint Laurent America
Frederic Cuménal, Executive Vice President, Tiffany & Co.
Jean Rosanvallon, Chief Executive Officer, Dassault

Presentations and panel discussions from Texworld USA 2014 are available for viewing at this link.

Click in to see and hear professionals from all corners of the fashion industry discuss topics and issues such as best practices, sourcing challenges and solutions, regulations and solid advice for startups and established companies.

 

Robert Frisby, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, discussed the FTC Rules on textile labeling and advertising at TEXWORLD USA 2014, last month.  His remarks include disclosure requirements regarding fiber content and country-of-origin, as well as the recent amendments to the Textile Rules effective on May 5, which update and clarify certain provisions, allow certain hang-tags that do not disclose a product’s full fiber content, and revise the text of continuing guaranties.

To watch Mr. Frisby’s presentation, click here.

August 15, 2014 – Texworld USA 2014 organizers have posted videos of the various panel discussions and presentations held during Texworld USA 2014 last month.

Follow this link to watch:

THE WHAT WHERE AND HOW OF GARMENT PRODUCTION – moderated by Dina Dunn, founder of Blink communications company, and featuring Anne Gillespie and Sam Moore, experts in standards and practices in organic and sustainable textile processes.

MADE IN AMERICAS – Moderated by Julie Reiser of the Made in the USA Foundation, and featuring Maker’s Row founder Matthew Burnett and Guatemala and Colombia national trade association representatives Lucia de Sander and Sylvia Reyes.

HOW TO MARKET YOUR FASHION BUSINESS IN TODAY’S CLUTTERED WORLD – featuring a presentation by Melissa Hall, consultant and founder of The Emerging Designer fashion network.

TEXTILES AND THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION – featuring a presentation by FTC attorney Robert Frisby, who helps to demystify the recent amendments to the Textile Rules, which went into effect in May.

THE FUTURE IS NOW: NEW GAMES & NEW RULES-GAINING MARKET SHARE, the DRIVERS IMPACTING TOMORROW’S APPAREL INDUSTRY – moderated by Manuela Fassbender of New York-based MBF Trend Consulting.

CONSCIOUS CONSUMERISM – led by Maxime Bedat, a pioneer in sustainable, responsibly sourced commerce and co-founder of Zady, among the first online retailers build on the principle that retail and social consciousness can go hand-in-hand.

HIGH-TECH AND FASHION – featuring a presentation by Liz Bacelar, founder and CEO of Decoded Fashion,  a leading events series that connects decision-makers in fashion, beauty and retail with emerging and established technology companies.

HOW NOT TO START A FASHION BRAND – featuring a presentation by New Yorker Mercedes Gonzalez, who began her career in the field at a family-owned manufacturing company and now directs the firm Global Purchasing Companies.  Ms Gonzalez offered what she considers the five most common, and lethal, mistakes that new designers can make.

For more information on these discussions and presentations, you can read about the three-day Texworld trade show on CASTAYBERT PLLC’s Firm News pages.

 

On November 20, 2014, Andre Castaybert will be giving the presentation regarding the basics of trade secret law as part of the introductory continuing legal education program “A Primer on Intellectual Property” that is being co-sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and the Intellectual Property Law Society.

For more information  about the New York State Bar Association and its activities, visit its website.

For more information about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can help you with issues of trade secret law, please click here.

To learn more about the firm’s intellectual property practice, click here.

August 7, 2014 – Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York  upheld a magistrate’s ruling ordering Microsoft Corp.  to hand over to federal prosecutors electronic data they are seeking in a narcotics case, and that is stored by Microsoft in Dublin, Ireland. Peska stayed the ruling, however, pending a Microsoft appeal to the Second Circuit.

Microsoft has argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has no authority to issue warrants related to emails stored outside the U.S., and that U.S. law has long required search warrants to name the specific location of the information sought, instead of requiring the recipient of the warrant to search multiple locations and jurisdictions for the information.

Judge Preska, ruling from the bench, upheld Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV’s April decision rejecting Microsoft’s argument.  The Court maintained that the central question in the dispute is not the physical location of the data, but who has control of it.  If Microsoft’s interpretation of the law is upheld, Web services providers could move content around the world in an effort to avoid law enforcement requests, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wrote in a brief to the court.

WHAT IS AT STAKE

The ruling has implications for all companies that store data on servers in other countries, which is increasingly common, as more and more companies use Gmail and other Google services to manage their data storage  all over the world.  For in-house counsel, the ruling means that companies cannot plead extraterritoriality when a subpoena is issued for documents stored on a server in another country.

The warrant in the Microsoft case was granted under the Stored Communications Act (SCA), part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which requires Internet Service Providers to disclose information to the government.

 

Explore the corresponding links to learn more about how CASTAYBERT PLLC can assist you with:

You can also visit our Commercial Litigation and Arbitration practice area.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

 

 

Next Page »
contact