Firm Senior Counsel, John Fulton Jr, was featured in Miami Dade Legal Aid’s September Spotlight on Pro Bono Attorneys. Mr. Fulton has been providing pro bono services with “Dade Legal Aid/Put Something Back” since 2002. You can find a link to the post here.
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Firm Associate, Mary Beth Hasty, Sworn in as a Director of the Board of the Coral Gables Bar Association
Firm Associate, Mary Beth Hasty, was sworn in as a Director of the Board of the Coral Gables Bar Association for the 2019-2020 Year at the Annual Installation Gala, which took place Saturday night the Historic Douglas Entrance. The Coral Gables Bar Association’s supports the City Beautiful and its legal community through volunteer service, educational seminars, and community events. Malloy & Malloy is also proud to have been a sponsor of this event, and to support Ms. Hasty’s dedication to this esteemed organization. Ms. Hasty has served as a Director of the Board of the Coral Gables Bar Association since last spring.
Firm Senior Counsel, John Fulton Jr., Recognized by The Florida Bar
Firm Senior Counsel, John Fulton Jr., received a Certificate of Meritorious Service from The Florida Bar for his years of service to the Intellectual Property Law Certification Committee.
Anheuser-Busch Preliminarily Enjoined from Using “No Corn Syrup” Packaging
Earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch launched an advertising campaing for its “BUD LIGHT” brand of beer which emphasized that the light beer is not brewed with corn syrup. Competitor Miller-Coors filed a lawsuit alleging that the campaign constitutes false advertising and unfair competition, not because it infers that “MILLER LIGHT” is brewed with corn syrp, which is true, but because consumers may mistakenly believe that the product contains high fructose corn syrup. A federal judge has agreed that Miller-Coors has made a preliminary showing of success, and has ordered that Bud Light must phase out this packaging and advertising campaign until the dispute is resolved.
USPTO Denies Lebron James’ Application Because “TACO TUESDAY” is a Commonplace Message
This past offseason, Lebron James began sharing videos on social media of his family’s “Taco Tuesday” dinner gatherings. The videos went viral, with James inviting other celebrity guests and NBA players for the “Taco Tuesday” dinners, and even making apparel with the quote “Its Taco Tuesday.” Lebron James’ company, LBJ Trademarks, subsequently filed a trademark application seeking to register the term, with the underlying goods and services involving “advertising and marketing services provided by means of indirect methods of marketing communications, namely, social media, search engine marketing, inquiry marketing, internet marketing, mobile marketing, blogging and other forms of passive, sharable or viral communications channels.”
On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, the USPTO refused the trademark application filed by LBJ Trademarks, stating that TACO TUESDAY “is a commonplace term, message, or expression widely used by a variety of sources that merely conveys an ordinary, familiar, well-recognized concept or sentiment.” However, the USPTO’s decision was not treated as a loss for the James’ camp. In fact, a spokesperson claimed that the rejection was the intended result: “Finding ‘Taco Tuesday’ as commonplace achieves precisely what the intended outcome was, which was getting the U.S. government to recognize that someone cannot be sued for its use.” Under that approach