Intellectual Property Attorney

Category: Intellectual Property Law

AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 4 of 4)

As iron sharpens iron, using overlapping layers of intellectual property protection can also be used to mutually strengthen existing forms of protection, and even build new rights. Here again, the TIE FIGHTER® provides a useful illustration. The U.S. PTO database shows that this three-dimensional TIE FIGHTER® registration shown above was issued under Section 2(F) of the Trademark Act. In general, trademarks must be d

AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 3 of 4)

One of the hallmarks of the STAR WARS® brand’s intellectual property portfolio is the creative use of overlapping layers of protection. As illustrated by the figure below, patents, copyrights and trademarks are not necessarily separate and distinct forms of intellectual property as many mistakenly suppose. For example, the same computer source code may be eligible for both copyright protection (vis-à-vis the expressi

AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 2 of 4)

By way of example, a quick search of the U.S. PTO’s Trademark Electronic Search Database reveals 97 live trademark registrations or pending applications containing the phrase “STAR WARS”. Moreover, the brand has further protected itself and diversified its licensing catalogue by securing trademark rights over many of the character names from throughout the STAR WARS® universe such as LUKE SKYWALKER® (Reg. No. 2454916

AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 1 of 4)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … the STAR WARS® brand became one of the most iconic and lucrative licensing franchises of all time. In negotiating during the creation of the first STAR WARS® movie, George Lucas took an impressive gamble on himself and the brand he was creating -opting for the rights to all sequels and future merchandise in exchange for less money upfront as the director. With an estimate

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