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Is Intellectual Property Being Used to Break Up Unions?

In the wake of the pandemic, organized labor has grabbed headlines. Workers at high profile companies such as Starbucks, Amazon, and Chipotle have attempted (with varying degrees of success) to unionize over the past two years. The National Labor Relations Board, in its 2022 semi-annual report covering October 2021 through March 2022, revealed that union […]

Repost: INTA Features

NFTs, Brands and the Metaverse – Coauthored by Weston Anson NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, were one of the biggest digital trends of 2021. They continue to shake up the entire intellectual property (IP) community as more brand owners attempt to understand how to use them and the metaverse to engage their customers. An NFT is […]

Are Photographic Copyrights Being Properly Protected? – A Two-Case Examination of Fair Use

Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg Does tattooing copyrighted photographs amount to infringement? It will be up to a jury to make that determination in the upcoming trial Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg. The plaintiff, Mr. Jeffrey Sedlik, claims that celebrity tattoo artist Ms. Katherine Von Drachenberg, professionally known as Kat Von D, inappropriately used his photograph of […]

ABA – IPL Fall Conference Interview Series: Weston Anson

Weston Anson, Chairman of CONSOR IP Experts, recently participated as a keynote speaker for the ABA – IP Law Fall 2021 Conference. Ahead of the conference, Mr. Anson was interviewed by two law students, Bernell J. Alexander III and John Pierce, on the topic of NFTs and the role they will play in the courts […]

The Resilience of Copyrights

The experts at CONSOR have integrated data from the most reputable sources in the intellectual property industry to bring together four decades of royalty rate metrics. The accompanying graph combines sources such as Royalty Stat, Licensing Executives Society, Licensing International, Licensing Economics Review, and CONSOR’s own proprietary database to serve as a reliable and informative […]

Texas Froze: Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Over the past week large parts of the country have been devastated by an unprecedented cold front. In Texas, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio all faced single digit temperatures, the lowest reached in 30 years.[1] At the same time, power grid failures left millions without electricity.[2] ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which controls approximately […]

Shift in Coffee Consumption Trends

Coffee is a primary driver of worker productivity. However, in wake of COVID-19 and work from home ordinances, many individuals were cut off from their daily caffeinated beverage of choice at the office. As individuals working from home seek their daily dose of coffee to boost productivity, we expect to see an increase in demand […]

Blockchain Enables Increased Profits for Trademark Holders

Blockchain can enable companies to control their brands and make their TM/trademark products more attractive and valuable — particularly in consumer facing industries such as pharmaceuticals, fashion and apparel, retail, automotive and consumer electronics. In this swiftly changing retail and distribution environment, blockchain in brand management becomes imperative. With thousands of stores and distribution points […]

COVID Impact on The Value of Brands and Other IP

During this pandemic, many brands are being squeezed. Many large retail chains are closing their stores and seeking protection under bankruptcy laws. Eventually, many of these will face liquidation or reorganization of their IP assets. So, the question becomes: How does this situation affect the valuation of their brands and other IP? Let me begin […]

The Underlying Value of Biotech IPOs

While Covid-19 has brought hospitality and other service sectors to a standstill, the biopharmaceutical IPO market is booming. Royalty Pharma, a company focused on buying biopharmaceutical royalties from drug developers, went public on June 16, 2020 at a value of $2.18 billion. Royalty Pharma’s IPO is the second-largest biopharmaceutical IPO ever and the biggest IPO […]