Insights

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

In a decision to be applauded by brand owners throughout the country, the Supreme Court clarified the balance between trademark rights and First Amendment interests in its decision in the Jack Daniel’s case, Jack Daniel’s Props., Inc. v. VIP Prods. LLC, No. 22-148 (June 8, 2023).  Vacating the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that an accused infringer does not receive special First Amendment protection when it has used a trademark to designate the source of its own goods.  Such use is subject to the traditional test for likelihood of confusion, the Court held, not a threshold test derived from the First Amendment such as that contained in Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 (2d Cir. 1989).[1]

Following its recent grant of a registration for Zarya of the Dawn, a comic book incorporating certain images generated by artificial intelligence, the U.S. Copyright Office (“Copyright Office) has issued new Guidance regarding its examination of works containing material that has been generated by artificial intelligence (“AI”), effective as of March 16, 2023.[1] In sum, works that incorporate material generated by AI may be eligible for copyright protection and registration under certain circumstances, provided that the work contains sufficient human authorship. Applicants seeking to register their works with the Copyright Office now have a duty to disclose any AI-generated material in copyright applications, as well as in existing registrations. Any AI-generated content that is more than de minimis must be excluded from the filing.

Trademark law continues to challenge as impactful recent case law, administrative updates and the need for an increasingly global outlook when practicing trademark law evolves the practice.