Howard Wintner

August 20, 2020 | New York Law Journal

The Supreme Court has recently been active in accepting trademark cases for review. This article discusses the four cases which the court has recently decided.

By Howard Wintner

14 minute read

October 08, 2019 | New York Law Journal

The more common association with parody is for copyrights, where a parody may be protected under the statutory "fair use" doctrine. But there is a well developed body of case law for parody under the trademark laws.

By Howard Wintner

11 minute read

April 29, 2019 | New York Law Journal

This article discusses the Supreme Court decision in 'Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co.', which held that color alone was subject to trademark protection, and discusses subsequent cases.

By Howard Wintner

10 minute read

September 24, 2018 | New York Law Journal

The threshold requirement for a dilution claim is that the mark is “famous.” Dilution can occur in one of two ways, either dilution by “blurring” or “tarnishment.”

By Howard Wintner

12 minute read

October 11, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Howard Wintner discusses a manner in which a trade dress can be deemed functional—“aesthetic functionality”—focusing on its application within the Second Circuit.

By Howard Wintner

10 minute read

August 07, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Howard Wintner writes: The Second Circuit, and the district courts within it, have recognized the nominative fair use doctrine and used it for numerous years, including several district court decisions adopting the Ninth Circuit's test. However, prior to 2016, the Second Circuit had not endorsed either the Ninth or Third Circuit's test for nominative fair use.

By Howard Wintner

8 minute read

May 23, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Howard Wintner writes: Although normally associated with copyright laws, there is also a doctrine of fair use under the trademark laws, which prevents a monopoly of a descriptive term which anyone should have right to use.

By Howard Wintner

17 minute read

November 30, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Howard Wintner, director of litigation at the Abramson Law Group, discusses copyright ownership, with an emphasis on joint ownership. A joint work is one "prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole."

By Howard Wintner

21 minute read

May 11, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Howard Wintner discusses the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, a significant advance in trade secret law and the prosecution of trade secret claims; remedies available under the act, particularly the ex parte civil seizure remedy, which had no comparable remedy in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, where the trade secret owner was relegated to traditional injunctive remedies.

By Howard Wintner

13 minute read

November 12, 2015 | New York Law Journal

In his Trademarks column, Howard Wintner discusses the three Lanham Act cases decided by the Supreme Court in 2014 and 2015, and subsequent district court decisions construing them.

By Howard Wintner

11 minute read