Law360, New York (July 5, 2017, 3:34 PM EDT) — From karaoke tracks to SpongeBob Squarepants to Google to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the Slants and the Redskins, it was an action-packed first half of 2017 in the world of trademark law. As we head into the back half of the year, here are the seven big rulings you need to know.
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4. Globefill Inc. v. Elements Spirits Inc.
A California federal jury’s March verdict found that a small tequila company had ripped off the distinctive skull-shaped bottle used by Dan Aykroyd’s vodka company.
The verdict came after an action packed trial in which the comedy legend himself testified, at one point pulling out a ruler on the stand to compare his Crystal Head Vodka bottle to that of KAH Tequila.
Most notably, Aykroyd’s team called a bombshell last-minute witness — who testified that KAH’s owner had asked him to directly copy the Crystal Head bottle, lied about it on the stand, then offered to give him a $10,000 check as much-delayed “royalties.”
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