Advertising and Marketing Law
Do-It-Yourself Trademark Applications: Penny Wise; Pound Foolish
April 25, 2013Trademark protection is a key part of corporate due diligence, serving to improve the value of company’s chief intangible assets. Too many business owners, however, mistakenly believe that seeking trademark protection merely involves filing a form with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). They forego legal counsel, assuming they can secure protection themselves and save some money. In the end, they are often surprised by the complexity of the trademark registration process. Here are seven traps that often befall do-it-yourself trademark applicants.
Read More...FTC Issues New Rules for Digital Advertising
April 4, 2013Advertisers now have a new set of standards for making disclosures in digital advertising, courtesy of the FTC. Last month, the FTC released its revised “.Com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising.” Asserting that advertisers need to make their disclosures clearly so that consumers understand their offers, the FTC decries hyperlinks, hashtags, and pop-ups.
Read More...Sweepstakes and Prize Offers Create Interdisciplinary Legal Risks for Marketers
March 8, 2013Consumers love prizes, but they hate being deceived by illegal and false promises of prizes. They especially hate when they have been lured into giving away personal information or spending money needlessly. Sweepstakes and contests require detailed legal vetting, but so do the advertising and marketing messages that accompany these prize promotions.
Read More...Evaluating Art Licenses: How to Tell if You Have a Good Deal
February 11, 2013In a recent discussion on the LinkedIn group “Art of Licensing,” an artist asked group members to evaluate whether an agent had offered her a “good deal” based on the percentages of compensation. Artists and agents, alike, chimed in with their thoughts on the percentages and what makes for good representation in the art licensing field. As I followed the discussion, I thought about the questions that clients frequently ask me about proposed contracts and what questions they ought to be asking. In this post, I will focus on licensing agreements rather than representation agreements, although some of the issues certainly overlap.
Read More...Hot Topics in Advertising Law for 2013
January 16, 2013With 2013 now officially underway, I am highlighting some hot topics in advertising law. We will continue to see developments in these areas, whether judicial or legislative in nature. The most proactive step a brand can take to avoid legal risk is to allocate some of its crisis budget to audit its advertising and marketing practices early in the year.
Read More...Risky Pinterest Business? Questions on Intellectual Property Protection and Brand Promotion
December 5, 2012Pinterest’s announcement last month that it would allow the creation of business accounts seemed a welcome development. After all, the site had always encouraged authenticity but had not been welcoming authentic commercial use. Now businesses can come out of the shadows and claim their board’s business pages. In so doing, they still face many unanswered questions.
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