Ed Timberlake

snoop dogg's application to register SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY as a trademark for retail store services feat. cannabis products derived from hemp w/ a THC concentration of <0.3% refused by @uspto for 2 reasons:

1. services illegal per federal law, &
2. phrase too commonplace

Supplemental Guidance for Examination of Design Patent Applications Related to Computer-Generated Interfaces and Icons The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently received feedback that previously-issued guidance may unnecessarily limit flexibility for design applicants in the field of computer-...

Is the USPTO really saying "they're not abstract designs because they're tied to computers"??

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

tsdr.uspto.gov#caseNumber=9...

www.glenview.il.us/index.php?se...

zenziden.com

i was a guest on the "fashionably IP" podcast with fabulous british hosts lee curtis & rebecca field, where i was asked to explain US trade dress law & how it applies to fashion & other industries 💅👛

here's the @spotify link if you want to check it out: open.spotify.com/episode/6VyX...

so happy to share that my article "litigating personal brand: intellectual property & the construction of self" is officially forthcoming in u illinois law review!

a link to the @ssrn draft is below & after helpful discussions at WIPIP & ILWIP in the last 2 weeks, i continue to welcome feedback 📝

'Tang Gold' is not essentially derived from 'Nadorcott' plant variety, finds Patents Court The IPKat blog reports on copyright, patent, trade mark, info-tech and confidentiality issues from a mainly UK and European perspective.

My summary of yesterday's decision in the highly controversial Nadorcott PVR case. I'll have a lot more to say in due course.
ipkitten.blogspot.com/2026/03/tang...

morning xo

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It's giving Bilski (2008)

"The Board was unmoved by the argument that selling prop money to a videographer constitutes use of a mark in connection with multimedia entertainment production services."

- @ttablog.bsky.social

TTABlog Test: Are Safari Expedition Services Related to Restaurant Services Under Section 2(d)?
thettablog.blogspot.com/2026/03/ttab...

A legal writing don't

🔴💛⚪️

4th Circuit: "Rule 8.4(d)'s prohibition of “conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice” applies to submitting a brief with nonexistent cases no matter how it is done, whether through generative AI or not" 🤖😵

www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/259...

What is US trade dress law and how does it apply to the world of fashion?

What is US trade dress law and how does it apply to the world of fashion? The 47th Fashionably IP podcast is out today. open.spotify.com/episode/6VyX...

Yesterday it was 85 degrees, now it's snowing. 🙃🫠

TTAB Tosses Out Cancellation Petition: Untimely Section 2(d) Claim Masquerading as a Section 14(3) Claim
thettablog.blogspot.com/2026/03/ttab...

New computer-generated design guidance is out and virtual reality is now an article of manufacture.

public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-04987.pdf

ok "popcorn handbag," you have my attention🍿👜

Note that copyright already protects disembodied designs.

So you don't *need* design patents for this stuff...unless your design fails to meet the low bar set by Feist.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Research Guides: Stories from the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Resource Guide: March 2026 Symposium: “From Lived Experience to Public Memory: Commemorating, Documenting, and Archiving Experiences of the COVID... This research guide focuses on Americans’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring collections at the Library of Congress and those outside of the Library. This guide also links to StoryCor...

I’ll be giving a talk & performing with Malian griot Cheick Hamala Diabate & @duniabest.bsky.social this Friday at @librarycongress.bsky.social, as part of the American Folklife Symposium Commemorating, Documenting, and Archiving Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Free and open to the public.

Professor Christine Farley will be participating in a panel discussion at USC Could School of Law's 2026 Intellectual Property Institute Program, on March 17, 2026.

Click on the link to learn more about the event, panelists, and register: https://loom.ly/y8cLazQ

Niche lawprof question: have you used place-based pedagogy in any of your courses? I have students do a site visit in my Land Use course and cities+climate change seminar. Have tried StoryMaps as a way to share them. I'm esp curious about place-based teaching beyond land use/environmental law.

Talk about a Temu trademark threat.

TD Garden owner sues The Boston Garden cannabis dispensary over name TD Garden owner Delaware North said the name "The Boston Garden" is a rip-off of the original Garden trademark and could confuse customers.

the owner of sports & entertainment arena TD garden, formerly known as boston garden, sues cannabis dispensary "the boston garden" (punny!) which has several locations throughout greater boston, for trademark infringement

www.wcvb.com/article/td-g...

The reason I want students to have to struggle with difficult texts is because I want them to have the capacity to make meaning in and of the world on their own.

Henry Cowell - Suite for violin and piano (audio + sheet music) YouTube video by thenameisgsarci

Celebrating the Music of Henry Cowell!
(March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965)
Cowell was one of the first modernist American-born composers. Here, a soulfully melodic tune against constantly complicated chords – from his Suite for Violin and Piano: Andante tranquillo:
youtu.be/-E45NFufl6w?...

Grammarly has clearly been overreaching itself. I think it's time for the company to be split up, into Syntaxly and Morphologyly.

"Everyone wants to know whether training AI on copyrighted works is legal. The real answer is: it depends—and the boundary between what’s permissible and what isn’t will be far messier than anyone expects."