Stay Informed with the Anthony Law Blog
What’s With All These Celebrity Trademark Filings?
Federal trademark registration is highly valuable because it gives the owner exclusive rights to use the trademark with the associated goods or services. However, obtaining registration can be difficult as the mark must qualify for registration and can’t be too similar to another registration. Because of the value of a registered trademark, there has been a recent uptick in the number of notable filings by celebrities or other famous organizations.
Could Myles Garrett Face Criminal Liability for the On-Field Incident Thursday Night?
Some quick thoughts from our litigation attorney Vince Zuccaro:
As I flipped around the shows this morning, everyone seemed to agree. It was disgraceful. Embarrassing. Unprecedented. Cause for removal.
No. They weren’t talking about the impeachment proceedings in Washington, but rather a Cleveland football team whose ability to generate national headlines far outpaces any of its on-field accomplishments. In the waning moments of a rare win over their Pittsburgh rival, Browns defensive end Miles Garrett decided to play an impromptu game of “whack-a-mole” with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph by hitting him in the head with his own helmet. Rudolph was not amused.
Raising Startup Money for Your Business from Friends and Family
Funding is essential to any early-stage startup. Most entrepreneurs think of funding in terms of professional investors, such as angel investors and venture capitalists, but the most common way to start funding your business is actually by raising money from people in your network – your family and friends.
There are two important aspects to raising money from friends and family – how you go about approaching people for their investments and also staying compliant with the numerous laws in place to protect investors. This article gives an overview of both concepts.
Bars and Restaurants Need to Be Sure to Pay License Fees to Play Music in Their Establishments
Did you know that every public establishment, including bars and restaurants, must obtain licenses to have live or recorded music play in their business? The licenses are not difficult to get, but if you don’t pay for them you can be sued for playing music in your establishment. Recently, ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers), a performing rights society that manages the public performance rights for its members, sued thirteen bars and restaurants around the country for not paying for its license.
Did You Know that “Barcade” is a Federally-Protected Trademark for an Arcade Bar?
Everybody loves arcade bars. These trendy gathering places mix drinking and socializing with video games and nostalgia – appealing to a wide variety of patrons. The easy shorthand portmanteau, “barcade,” is often used to describe these establishments. However, have you ever noticed that the term barcade is actually rarely used in the names or advertising for the establishments?
As you may expect from a blog on legal topics, there is a legal reason for this – BARCADE is a federally-protected trademark for arcade bars owned by a company in Brooklyn, NY. Not only does this establishment own exclusive rights to the term, but this business actively – and some would say, aggressively – polices and enforces against unlicensed use of the term by sending cease-and-desist letters to establishments it thinks are infringing on its mark.
Defending Against the Increase to Your Property Tax Valuation in Franklin County
The Board of Education generally looks for a change in circumstances, such as a recent arms-length sale or property improvements, to bolster its claim that your property value, and hence your taxes, should increase. There are ways to defend against this before the Board of Revision.
If you received a recent notice of complaint from the Board of Revision, don't let them jack up your taxes without talking to us first!
ADA Compliance with Compassion, Part 3: What is an Essential Job Function, Really?
Spoon theory is a disability metaphor used to explain the reduced amount of mental and physical energy available for basic living activities and productive tasks that results from many disabilities and chronic illnesses. It can be difficult to explain the personal experiences of living with an invisible illness to those of you who literally cannot relate - how could you when we’re talking about internal experiences and challenges?
ADA Compliance with Compassion, Part 2: Mental Health & the Interactive Accommodations Process
In this article, we’re going to tackle the interactive accommodations process. What does the ADA mean by an “interactive” accommodations process? What kinds of accommodations might an employer be required to make? How do you accommodate an invisible illness that you may not fully understand? How do you know that your employee has a legitimate disability- couldn’t they be lying?
Facebook and Others Hit With Privacy Fines - What You Should Be Concerned About
Facebook has received a number of recent privacy complaints, with repercussions ranging from increased public scrutiny to monetary fines including a €500,000 ($644,000) fine by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2018 – the maximum penalty under the UK’s data protection legislation. The fine was levied after the ICO discovered that Facebook failed to keep the personal information of its users secure by allowing third-party developers access to user information without user consent.
ADA Compliance with Compassion, Part 1: A Series of Articles on Mental Health & Employment
The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with a disability who are employees (or applicants), unless doing so would cause on undue hardship. Sounds simple enough, right? In theory, maybe. In practice, far from it. In fact, over 30% of the charges filed with the EEOC in 2017 involved allegations of disability discrimination. The ADA is a complex piece of legislation and mental health issues are still widely stigmatized and misunderstood. Combined, the conditions are ripe for the perfect storm, and employers must batten down the proverbial compliance hatches in 2019. Over the next month, we’ll be sharing a series of articles with you on mental health and the ADA.