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• Consumer privacy protection in recent state legislation By Sean Klammer    Special thanks to Emily Cunningham, Porter Wright law clerk, for her assistance on this article. Since California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), many states have introduced similar consumer data privacy legislation, but so far only Maine and Nevada have passed legislation successfully. Nevada focuses on internet website operators, whereas Maine focuses on broadband internet access service providers. Both laws are generally narrower than CCPA, although Maine’s law has an opt-in only provision. Nevada’s privacy law To whom does the law... More
• Status of CBD products under Ohio law: Update By Frank Tice and Porter Wright    In our recent post, Status of CBD products under Ohio law: Part one, we discussed the perplexing regulations in Ohio that made it effectively illegal to sell hemp and Cannabidiol (CBD) despite passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, otherwise known as the 2018 Farm Bill. That landscape has now changed in Ohio with the passage of Senate Bill 57, signed into law by Governor DeWine on July 30, 2019. The version of Senate Bill 57 that... More
• Kawhi Leonard v. Nike, Inc.: Copy, derivative work or distinct work? By Rick Mescher    On July 17, 2019, Nike, Inc. (Nike) filed its Answer and Counter Claims in response to the complaint previously filed by Kawhi Leonard, now of the Los Angeles Clippers. Read about the complaint in our previous post, Kawhi Leonard v. Nike Inc.: How copyrights can trump trademarks? In its Answer, Nike asks for a declaration that Nike is the sole owner of copyrights in the modified “KL2” logo, a finding that Kawhi’s use of the modified “KL2” logo infringes the... More
• The GDPR: A year in review By Sean Klammer    On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became effective across the European Union. The GDPR is a regulation designed to give EU residents control over their personal data and simplify the regulatory framework for international organizations doing business in the EU. In its infancy, it was not entirely clear how the GDPR would be enforced. Now, one year later, the regulation is beginning to show some teeth. For individual consumers, the GDPR likely calls to mind... More
• Kawhi Leonard v. Nike Inc.: How copyrights can trump trademarks? By Rick Mescher    On Monday, May 3, 2019, in the midst of the NBA finals, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors filed a lawsuit against Nike, Inc. (Nike) in the US District Court Southern District of California. The complaint asks the Court for a declaration that Kawhi is the sole author of the “KL2” logo, that his use of that logo does not infringe the rights of Nike, and that Nike committed fraud in its copyright application. The “KL2” logo is... More
• China’s draft measure on cross-border personal information transfer By Diana Lingyu Jia    On June 13, 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CMA, 国家互联网信息办公室), an office that serves as China’s central internet regulator and censor, released the draft Measures for Security Assessment of Cross-border Transfer of Personal Information (the Measure, 个人信息出境安全评估办法) for public comment. Following is a brief analysis on how this Measure, if adopted, could affect U.S. entities doing business in China or doing business with Chinese entities.  Network Operator If a U.S. entity is a network owner, administrator or service provider... More
• Status of CBD products under Ohio law; Emerging issues in intellectual property related to cannabis business: Part 2 By Noor Bahhur and Frank Tice    In Part 2, we cover the key Intellectual Property issues that are emerging in this arena. Read part 1 here. United States Patent and Trademark Office update Following the enactment of the Farm Bill, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially issued guidelines when reviewing trademark applications for CBS and hemp-derived goods and services. This is a big step for the cannabis industry as for many years, entities have tried, unsuccessfully, to legally protect their... More
• Status of CBD products under Ohio law; Emerging issues in intellectual property related to cannabis business: Part 1 By Noor Bahhur and Frank Tice    Two emerging issues related to commercial cannabis are taking center stage for industry stake holders in Ohio: Current legal status of hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) based products under state law How intellectual property rights will be protected We will walk through both the background and current status related to these issues in this two part series. Background: Hemp and CBD legal status in Ohio Until recently, federal law did not differentiate hemp from marijuana meaning both were considered “marihuana” (the... More
• A “Boost” for copyright protection in the fashion industry: Kanye’s Yeezy sneakers to receive copyright registrations By Rick Mescher    On May 8, 2019, the Review Board of the U. S. Copyright Office issued a decision stating that Yeezy 350 Boost Version 1 and Yeezy 350 Boost Version 2 sneakers each include copyrightable subject matter. The Adidas Yeezy sneakers are a collaboration between Adidas AG and Kanye West which has been wildly popular and as a result has been frequently knocked off by imitators. So it is not surprising that Adidas AG pursued copyright protection for these sneakers.... More
• Verify your wires! By Jack Beeler    The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has released its 2018 annual report, which includes statistics that internet-enabled theft, wire fraud and exploitation were responsible for a staggering $2.7 billion in financial losses in 2018. If you are involved in transactional work, this can happen to you. Reports detail an increasingly common story of wire fraud accompanying large sum transactions. The story line often includes a spoofed email invoice in connection with closing, which instructs one party to wire closing related... More