Illinois (IL) Trademark Law CLE Course Catalog

Join us to examine the convoluted litigation history that underlies this immensely popular, global motion picture franchise. Peter chronicles the key legal disputes that plagued the franchise for much of its storied history, and discusses the interesting and complex legal issues those disputes raised.

Join us to hear from speakers Steven Weigler of EmergeCounsel and Steven D. Lustig of Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP as they delve into an in-depth discussion of trademark protection and the latest developments in the international legal arena. Speakers will also offer insights and practical tips to protect and defend their trademarks on a global scale.

Join a panel of key thought leaders and practitioners assembled by The Knowledge Group as they provide a comprehensive discussion on the evolving trade secret landscape. The speakers will also address recent trends and developments, including FTC regulations, the decline of non-compete agreements, and other pertinent topics.

Law firms on the cutting edge of combining internal law firm data with public datasets will describe their use cases and share their secrets for improving substantive work-product and developing new business. We’ll discuss how firms have married state and federal litigation dockets, patent and trademark prosecution dockets, new lawsuit feeds, and public and private data on deals (e.g., M&A) — all to build workflows for: (1) analytics and research (2) better RFPs, (3) experience databases, and (4) user-driven development.

These days, manufacturers of nearly every consumer product under the sun are catching false advertising claims. If you make a consumer-facing product, the odds are, litigation like this is not a matter of if but when, which means, false advertising litigation is just another business risk to be managed, mitigated, and optimized. This program takes a closer look at the landscape, and offers some practical advice and key considerations for how a business might implement some systems to manage this risk. Social media can be a powerful tool for companies to help build relationships with their customers and employees. However, with the benefits of this tool come corresponding risks. If your company distributes content on-line, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be your best friend -- and your worst enemy -- often at the same time. This program gives you the advice you need to prosecute or defend on-line copyright infringement claims.

Did the TV series “Battlestar Galactica” infringe on the copyrights owned by Lucasfilm in the movie “Star Wars”? Experienced intellectual property litigator Peter Afrasiabi reviews this famous case and several others where the copyright, trademark and right of publicity interests in “Star Wars” were litigated. Along the way, Peter provides an expert overview of copyright, trademark and right of publicity law that will be useful for all practitioners.

Using some examples of lawsuits involving Ford, Ferrari and other famous cars, this program review show courts have applied the standards for trade dress protection in the context of litigation over automobile designs.  The presenter also shares several important practice tips for litigating claims of trade dress infringement involving any type of product.