California (CA) Trademark Law CLE Course Catalog

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.

Are we alone in the universe? While he doesn’t answer this question, in the latest installment of “The Curious Lawyer” series, Peter Afrasiabi reviews the scope of FOIA and FOIA litigation over government documents relating to UFO sightings as well as the law that governs fascinating issues such as ownership of the moon, comets and other extraterrestrial objects.

As business continues to evolve into a more globalized workforce, GCs are being tasked with setting up international offices, aligning resources and coverage, and deciding where to build out legal teams. Understanding cross borders Communications and cultural differences have become business essential, not just to get deals done, but also to maintain strong cross-border partnerships. Join our panelists as they discuss the role of legal in international relations, and share their expertise and lived experiences with all international business dealings.

Conversations around generative artificial intelligence are dominating the social stratosphere. By simulating human cognitive thinking, generative AI can produce new types of text, imagery, audio, and synthetic data by using patterns and informational elements obtained from prior works. Because generative AI often relies on pools of data and third-party creations to create new content, there is a concern that generative AI may, whether intentionally or inadvertently, exploit copyright-protected content to develop purportedly original content. Organizations that leverage generative AI tools should be mindful of how the tools are used in a commercial context to mitigate the risk of infringing uses. Likewise, owners of intellectual property should be aware of how their works are used by generative AI models and the users of these tools, and timely action should be taken to defend intellectual property against infringement.

When is a trademark famous enough to receive heightened protection under federal law, including protection from being diluted by other similar marks? Peter Afrasiabi discusses the key contours of trademark law and trademark dilution claims in the context of litigation over famous marks including Jack Daniels, Porsche, Victoria’s Secret, Sony, Spotify and Pinterest.

In this fun and timely program, Peter Afrasiabi examines the colorful history of politicians using popular songs at campaign events and the legal disputes with musicians who opposed their works being used in this way. From such famous examples as President Reagan using Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and former President Trump using Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” this program delivers a tour-de-force analysis of copyright, trademark and right of publicity law applied to musical compositions used to sell political campaigns.

Peter Afrasiabi, an experienced intellectual property lawyer and litigator, gives a comprehensive overview of intellectual property rights and how the four key legal frameworks – copyright, trademark, patent and trade secrets – are relevant to all lawyers. At the end of the presentation, you’ll not only be able to spot intellectual property issues when they arise in your practice but have a good sense of how to deal with them, and also when you may want to bring in an expert to provide additional advice or assistance.

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.