Darren Cahr
@legallysocial.bsky.social
IP lawyer, novel writer, bass player, opinion-haver, food lover, art obsessive
As a trademark lawyer I would like to note that the problem with most rebrands is that they are poorly thought out and badly executed. This has been my TED Talk.
August 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
As a trademark lawyer I would like to note that the problem with most rebrands is that they are poorly thought out and badly executed. This has been my TED Talk.
Universal post
I predict something will not be as bad as we feared and something will be far worse than expected.
June 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Universal post
Excited to attend one of my favorite events every year, the Trademark Scholarship Symposium at INTA, with your host @timberlakelaw First presentation by the always interesting @TudorsAndTMs on immersive art!
May 18, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Excited to attend one of my favorite events every year, the Trademark Scholarship Symposium at INTA, with your host @timberlakelaw First presentation by the always interesting @TudorsAndTMs on immersive art!
Reposted by Darren Cahr
NEW: LibGen contains millions of pirated books and research papers, built over nearly two decades. From court documents, we know that Meta torrented a version of it to build its AI. Today, @theatlantic.com presents an analysis of the data set by @alexreisner.bsky.social. Search through it yourself:
The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem
Meta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here.
www.theatlantic.com
March 20, 2025 at 11:38 AM
NEW: LibGen contains millions of pirated books and research papers, built over nearly two decades. From court documents, we know that Meta torrented a version of it to build its AI. Today, @theatlantic.com presents an analysis of the data set by @alexreisner.bsky.social. Search through it yourself:
*types up Schedule A joke, thinks better of it, deletes*
March 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
*types up Schedule A joke, thinks better of it, deletes*
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Materiality surveys may not need controls tushnet.blogspot.com/2025/02/mate...
materiality surveys may not need controls
In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litig., No. 14-MD-2542 (VSB), 2025 WL 354671 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2025) This is a ...
tushnet.blogspot.com
February 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Materiality surveys may not need controls tushnet.blogspot.com/2025/02/mate...
Regularly reading a newspaper in physical form is still one of the great morning pleasures, and an amazing way to get your brain moving in the morning, and it is sad that so few folks today get to experience it anymore
January 30, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Regularly reading a newspaper in physical form is still one of the great morning pleasures, and an amazing way to get your brain moving in the morning, and it is sad that so few folks today get to experience it anymore
Tired: AI is based on theft
Wired: You stole my AI
Wired: You stole my AI
January 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Tired: AI is based on theft
Wired: You stole my AI
Wired: You stole my AI
This is actually quite important and worth your time - the copyrightability of “joint” AI human authored works (and what that actually means) is going to be one of the highest profile IP issues of the coming age, and this is a useful place for the process to start
The US Copyright office has ruled that AI/human combined work can be copyrighted as long as a human is adding, changing or selecting elements. Prompts alone do not usually produce copyrighted work. Everything is case-by-case, but the report is clear and thoughtful. copyright.gov/ai/Copyright...
January 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This is actually quite important and worth your time - the copyrightability of “joint” AI human authored works (and what that actually means) is going to be one of the highest profile IP issues of the coming age, and this is a useful place for the process to start
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Christine Farley and I also talk about the VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s trademark dispute in detail in our recent paper “Raising the Threshold for Trademark Infringement to Protect Free Expression” : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Raising the Threshold for Trademark Infringement to Protect Free Expression
The First Amendment right to free speech limits the scope of rights in trademark law. Congress and the courts have devised various defenses and common law doctr
papers.ssrn.com
January 24, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Christine Farley and I also talk about the VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s trademark dispute in detail in our recent paper “Raising the Threshold for Trademark Infringement to Protect Free Expression” : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Darren Cahr
New ruling in VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s trademark dispute involving a parody Bad Spaniels dog toy: No infringement because this parody is unlikely to confuse. VIP is liable for dilution by tarnishment & waived its 1st Am challenge to the dilution law. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
January 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
New ruling in VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s trademark dispute involving a parody Bad Spaniels dog toy: No infringement because this parody is unlikely to confuse. VIP is liable for dilution by tarnishment & waived its 1st Am challenge to the dilution law. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Another reason why all future IP attorneys should take all of the "big three" IP classes (Patents, Trademarks & Copyright):
"Defendant copied the substance of the advertising and the instructions therein." So?
January 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Another reason why all future IP attorneys should take all of the "big three" IP classes (Patents, Trademarks & Copyright):
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Supreme Court orders millions of Americans to get back to work.
January 17, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Supreme Court orders millions of Americans to get back to work.
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Adding more fillips and different exceptions to 43 will be bad for the rest of 43 as the Ct demonstrated in JDI by reading 1 exception’s requirements into another’s; use in commerce is the wrong limit compared to commercial advertising/promotion; confusion itself is not really the interest at stake
January 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Adding more fillips and different exceptions to 43 will be bad for the rest of 43 as the Ct demonstrated in JDI by reading 1 exception’s requirements into another’s; use in commerce is the wrong limit compared to commercial advertising/promotion; confusion itself is not really the interest at stake
One useful thing about being a literature major is that you were already aware that at least 54% of all authors who ever wrote a good book was a terrible person.
January 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
One useful thing about being a literature major is that you were already aware that at least 54% of all authors who ever wrote a good book was a terrible person.
Clearly a book I need to buy - as a trademark lawyer I often find myself trying to explain the idea of “ownable distinctiveness” to clients, and this will be a useful catalogue of examples
January 13, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Clearly a book I need to buy - as a trademark lawyer I often find myself trying to explain the idea of “ownable distinctiveness” to clients, and this will be a useful catalogue of examples
The best description of the experience of using Twitter these days that I’ve seen
January 13, 2025 at 1:24 PM
The best description of the experience of using Twitter these days that I’ve seen
With the new year, Popeye is now out of copyright and in the public domain, which can only mean one thing: it is just a matter of months before we get a Popeye horror film. Blood and Spinach?
January 2, 2025 at 10:52 AM
With the new year, Popeye is now out of copyright and in the public domain, which can only mean one thing: it is just a matter of months before we get a Popeye horror film. Blood and Spinach?
Reposted by Darren Cahr
These two images are close enough that there would be a very viable substantial similarity claim if a human created the one on the right through any means other than by taking a different photograph. (But different enough for the claim to not be a slam dunk.)
Curious as to the prompt used.
Curious as to the prompt used.
On the left, my image. On the right, the Al image that was clearly trained on, and designed to plagiarize, my image.
All Al generated imagery is inherently theft. It's unethical, environmentally disastrous, and does irreparable harm to both artists and society.
All Al generated imagery is inherently theft. It's unethical, environmentally disastrous, and does irreparable harm to both artists and society.
December 24, 2024 at 4:51 PM
These two images are close enough that there would be a very viable substantial similarity claim if a human created the one on the right through any means other than by taking a different photograph. (But different enough for the claim to not be a slam dunk.)
Curious as to the prompt used.
Curious as to the prompt used.
Reposted by Darren Cahr
Blue canarye yn the outlette by the lighte swicche
Who waccheth ovir thee
Make a litel dovecote yn thy soul
Who waccheth ovir thee
Make a litel dovecote yn thy soul
December 20, 2024 at 1:53 AM
Blue canarye yn the outlette by the lighte swicche
Who waccheth ovir thee
Make a litel dovecote yn thy soul
Who waccheth ovir thee
Make a litel dovecote yn thy soul
Reposted by Darren Cahr
For a client I recently reviewed a redlined contract where the counterparty used an "AI-powered contract platform." It had inserted into the contract a provision entirely contrary to their own interests.
So I left it in there.
Please, go ahead, use AI lawyers. It's better for my clients.
So I left it in there.
Please, go ahead, use AI lawyers. It's better for my clients.
December 14, 2024 at 5:56 PM
For a client I recently reviewed a redlined contract where the counterparty used an "AI-powered contract platform." It had inserted into the contract a provision entirely contrary to their own interests.
So I left it in there.
Please, go ahead, use AI lawyers. It's better for my clients.
So I left it in there.
Please, go ahead, use AI lawyers. It's better for my clients.
Lowkey most interesting fact about this case: Trump’s former solicitor general Noel Francisco will argue on behalf of TikTok. Oral arguments will be held on January 10 - only 9 days before the ban takes effect
December 18, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Lowkey most interesting fact about this case: Trump’s former solicitor general Noel Francisco will argue on behalf of TikTok. Oral arguments will be held on January 10 - only 9 days before the ban takes effect
The only list you need! Best novel I read in 2024: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Best non-fiction I read: When the Clock Broke, by @lioneltrolling.bsky.social
Best song: “Do it” by Emma Harner
Best TV Show: Shogun
Best Movie: Dune, Pt. 2
Best non-fiction I read: When the Clock Broke, by @lioneltrolling.bsky.social
Best song: “Do it” by Emma Harner
Best TV Show: Shogun
Best Movie: Dune, Pt. 2
December 13, 2024 at 6:30 PM
The only list you need! Best novel I read in 2024: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Best non-fiction I read: When the Clock Broke, by @lioneltrolling.bsky.social
Best song: “Do it” by Emma Harner
Best TV Show: Shogun
Best Movie: Dune, Pt. 2
Best non-fiction I read: When the Clock Broke, by @lioneltrolling.bsky.social
Best song: “Do it” by Emma Harner
Best TV Show: Shogun
Best Movie: Dune, Pt. 2
Reposted by Darren Cahr
allegations of copied instructions lead to finding of noninfringement and possible 512(f) violation tushnet.blogspot.com/2024/12/alle...
allegations of copied instructions lead to finding of noninfringement and possible 512(f) violation
MFB Fertility, Inc. v. Action Care Mobile Veterinary Clinic, LLC, --- F.Supp.3d ----, 2024 WL 1719347, No. 23 cv 3854 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 22, 20...
tushnet.blogspot.com
December 11, 2024 at 5:39 PM
allegations of copied instructions lead to finding of noninfringement and possible 512(f) violation tushnet.blogspot.com/2024/12/alle...
Reposted by Darren Cahr
ai training data exclusively made up of the cronenberg oeuvre
December 11, 2024 at 8:44 PM
ai training data exclusively made up of the cronenberg oeuvre