A group of knitters has received a cease-and-desist letter from the United States Olympics Committee for holding various knitting contests incorporated into a “Ravelympics,” which is allegedly contrary to the Olympics trademark rules.  The knitters were understandably unraveled, and received an apology from USOC for the needling tone of their letter.

From robots to… robots, here is a round-up of some interesting Olympic sport patents.  USA!  USA!

The Sixth Circuit decided that the red wax seal on the top of bottles of Maker’s Mark whiskey is a trademark. Maker’s Mark brought this case against Jose Cuervo, who had used a similar mark on its “Reserva de la Familia” bottles. Maker’s Mark has been using the wax seal since 1958, and the seal [...]

The dispute was between two models using the same stage name, “Elizabeth Sky.” The defendant allegedly went on a campaign on the Internet that tried to destroy the other model’s social networking presence. Interestingly, the court awarded damages to the plaintiff because of harm caused by various websites and social networks that removed the plaintiff’s [...]

“[A] litigious Clinton Street resident has waged epic David-vs-Goliath battles against corporate fashion brands eager to cash in on the neighborhood name. Unfortunately for them, Robert Lopez owns the trademark to ‘Lower East Side,’ and has since the mid-nineties. Previous legal pursuits to protect the grassroots brand included cases against J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Payless [...]

The iconic “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster has recently been revived from its British, Second World War roots.  This poster was originally designed by the British Ministry of Information and was intended to boost the morale of British citizens in case of a severe wartime incident such as an air raid.  Interestingly, although 2.5 [...]