Content for Innovators
What Democracy Means to Us
Cassie: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people" (quoting Abraham Lincoln) Danielle: The government can't decide whose voice is worthy of being heard. Aaron: Democracy is a system of government that (1) should favor the majority but protect the minority and (2) allows individual people, whether through an elected representative...
Favorite Holiday Movies
We Asked Jayaram Staff About a Host of Things From Favorite Holiday Movies to Their Interpretation of Democracy. Here's What They Had to Say... Aaron: Bad Santa Wendy: National Lampoon's Christmas Story Cassie: Home Alone Danielle: It's a Wonderful Life Julia: So hard to pick just one! It’s a tie between the 1978 animated short film The Small One...
The Communications Decency Act
The Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230 (“Section 230”), has widely been regarded as a valuable tool to protecting the freedom of expression on the internet. Section 230 states that providers or users of a computer service will not be treated as the publisher of any speech or information provided on its platform. In other words, online...
The Current State of Trademarks in the Cannabis Industry; And Where Developments May Arise in the Year Ahead
The legal landscape for cannabis businesses continues to evolve and is oftentimes highly ambiguous or even contradictory in practice. This is especially true for trademarks, which are largely governed by federal law. Cannabis remains “illegal” on the federal level despite various state laws legalizing its cultivation, sale, and use. That being...
Droit De Suite: The Absence of an Artist’s Resale Royalty in the United States
The story is as old as the art market itself and familiar to anyone who collects art. An emerging artist catches the eye of a reputable collector who, along with other art world insiders, purchases the entire body of work at a relatively inexpensive price. Demand skyrockets, and the collector resells the work a couple of years later at auction...
Breaking and Entering in a Virtual World
As a privacy and IT attorney, I fielded numerous calls at the beginning of the pandemic asking for advice on how to support a remote workforce. The biggest concern was whether security would be sufficient for remote operations. Perhaps this heightened sensitivity has paid off. So far in 2020, security breaches – the unauthorized exposure of...
Design Miami/
A lot of things have had to be canned this year, Art Basel included, unfortunately, but the annual celebration of international contemporary design that is Design Miami/, took place November 27th to December 6th. Notching up its 16th edition, the fair returned to the Miami Design District – where it all started back in 2005. Extended to run over...
A Word from Wendy
As 2020 draws to a close, we will look back on the year as we do at the end of each year and reflect on its highs and lows. But 2020 has become its own hashtag- worthy term standing for so much more than just 365 days. It was a presidential election year in which more Americans voted than ever before. It was the year of COVID-19, which brought...
The USPTO v. BOOKING.COM
The USPTO v. BOOKING.COM decision and the future of consumer perception evidence for generic marks. The Supreme Court affirmed that a generic word combined with “.com” can be a valid trademark based on consumer perception. Now what? On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a generic word combined with ".com” can create a federally...
Google v. Oracle
Later this year, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether Google infringed on Oracle when it used Java Application Programming Interfaces (“API”) in creating its Android operating system. In other words, the highest court in the country is about to answer an extraordinarily important question that effects the lives of virtually...
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