NIKKI RIGL – Two of the chocolate giants—Mars and Nestle—have undergone disappointing branding incidents this year: Mars’ attempts to start selling M&Ms in Sweden and Nestle’s attempts to trademark the shape of its KitKat candy both fell flat.[1] Strangely enough, the rationales behind each decision seem to thematically contradict one another. In an effort to stop […]
NIKKI RIGL – The Hurt Locker, an award-winning historical thriller film about a United States Army explosive ordinance disposal technician in the Iraq War, recently came under inspection of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[1] Sergeant Jeffrey Sarver, a member of the Army unit upon which the dramatic film was based, sued […]
NIKKI RIGL – A recent case, Garcia v. Google, Inc., caused quite a controversy with its polarized decisions over the last few months regarding an actor’s individually held copyright. The stark differentiations between the panel and en banc rulings of this case are worth noting, and may serve as a jumping off point for the […]
BY NIKKI RIGL – “Life is short. Have an affair.”[2] AshleyMadison.com is an online dating site for married persons: men are charged for each contact with a woman with whom they engage in deleterious infidelity.[3] Ashley Madison has recently received a considerable amount of media scrutiny as a list of more than 30 million users […]
