Josh Gerben’s Post

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) has filed a trademark for a new slogan: "TOO MANY BALLS" Is this the slogan of the year? #nwsl #trademarks

Do you have your Halloween costume picked out yet? Dunkin' has options for the whole family :). The company is selling DUNKINGS, DUNQUEENS, and DUNKIDS costumes on its website (and recently filed trademark applications to protect the names). These costumers seek to extend the success of the viral Super Bowl commercial. But Dunkin' is not without some competition. Enterprising individuals (some might call them infringers) have been selling the "DUNKINGS" tracksuits online. Let the trademark enforcement begin! 👇 #halloween #trademarks

Want to save hours a day? Here is my #1 productivity tip: Schedule all meetings and phone calls for 15 minutes only. For some reason, everyone defaults to 30 minutes. Given that I average 8-10 meetings a day, by keeping my meetings shorter, I save 2+ hours a day. It has been a huge unlock in my schedule. Also, something amazing happens when you schedule a call for 15 minutes and not 30... everyone gets more efficient. Here is what I typically hear at the beginning of a call: "I know we've only got 15 minutes so I'll get right to the point." [AS OPPOSED TO WHAT? 🙃 ] Give it a try and see how much time you save. #productivity #meetings #videocalls

I've been thinking a lot about losing this week. (Mostly thanks to my Philadelphia Phillies making an early playoff exit.) As a business owner, we have to take the dreaded "L" from time to time. The key is how you handle it. The most common ways to "lose" in business are to: - Lose a client - Lose an employee to a competitor - Lose money on a deal - Lose a dispute Here are my 3 rules on how to take the "L" well-- ➡ 1. Do not respond if you are upset. The worst thing you can do if you lose is to make the situation worse. If you feel yourself experiencing strong emotions, do not say anything (or send any emails). ➡ 2. Do not burn bridges. Being gracious in the face of defeat is so incredibly important. Nothing you say or do will change the result. The best thing you can do is avoid burning bridges. It is a small world. You would be surprised how many clients come BACK to us after leaving to try another law firm. ➡ 3. Focus on the places you are winning. We are hard-wired (from an evolutionary perspective) to focus on the negative. Do not let a loss ruin your week, let alone a day. There are likely many positive things happening in your business. Double down on these and forget about that loss immediately. ### I hope this helps the next time you take the L on something in your business. #businessowners #business

The legal system is not fair. It undoubtedly favors those who can afford legal fees. That said, it is rare to find a public example that so clearly highlights this imbalance as a recent case against Nike. 👇 So what can be done about this? My hope is that General Counsels for large companies will see this story and recalibrate how they use such power. Ultimately, the large companies that can afford exorbitant legal fees should be stewards, not abusers, of our legal system. #generalcounsel #inhousecounsel #gcs #nike

I have been running a business (which happens to be a law firm) for 16 years. The job is incredibly challenging on many fronts. To ensure that I can be a rock for my employees and clients on a daily basis, I work hard on my mental health. A big component of my mental health regimen is a "content diet." A "content diet" helps keep my mind calm and happy, making me a better boss and attorney. So what is my "content diet"? 1. Never watch the news. 2. Select only two newspapers to read each morning. 3. Limit social media usage to one check-in per day. 4. Follow only positive people on social media. 5. Listen to educational podcasts from optimistic people. 6. Limit TV watching to 30 minutes per day. 7. Watch only TV shows or movies that make me laugh. 8. Never get into an argument over text messages or emails. While these rules may seem obvious, following them is hard (give it a try). The bottom line: my mental health has improved greatly since I started following the rules. I also have the confidence that I can keep going for the next 16 years. #contentdiet #mentalhealth

What is the hardest job in the world? Being a parent. No one can possibly explain the 24/7/365 nature of the job. It is all-encompassing. But there is also no other job in the world that can bring so much joy... Especially when you can find activities that you enjoy as much as your kids. In the Gerben house, this means going to Philadelphia Phillies games in October. Yesterday's cardiac-event-inducing game against the Mets was amazing. We checked a lot of boxes: ✅ Get on the jumbotron ✅ Scream our lungs out. ✅ Get the W. ✅ Come home with a foul ball (first one ever!) I may be your trademark lawyer, but the most important job I have is raising the next generation of Phillies fans :). #parenting #phillies

Tiger Woods has fired back over claims that he stole another company's logo for his Sun Day Red brand. Last week, Tigeraire, a company that makes cooling products for athletes, made a legal filing to block the registration of the "tiger" logo for the new Tiger Woods and TaylorMade-owned brand. The Sun Day Red legal team responded by filing a lawsuit in Federal Court claiming that: "This case presents the time-worn circumstance of an opportunistic, misguided business attempting to extract an unwarranted financial windfall from a larger and more successful brand, based on threats of legal action and demands for exorbitant sums." ------ The action filed by the Sun Day Red legal team is called a "Complaint for Declaratory Relief." It is a strategic legal move that can be made by a company that is on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter. By filing this action, the Plaintiff (in this case, Woods and TaylorMade) is asking the court to find that the two logos for Tigeraire and Sun Day Red can coexist as opposed to seeking to stop the use of a given trademark. As I told CNBC, this is an aggressive response by the legal team for Woods and TaylorMade. This is because it presents challenges for the small company that is now the Defendant in the case... litigation in Federal Court gets very expensive (very quickly). https://lnkd.in/ey-pfdWV #TigerWoods #SundayRed #Trademarks

Marketing departments tend not to like trademark lawyers. (Even yours truly... despite my best efforts.) Why? When marketing comes up with a name they love, the trademark lawyers find a problem and throw cold water on it. But it doesn't have to be this way. Here's my suggested workflow for marketing departments to select a name that will pass legal review-- ➡ STEP 1: Come up with several names for a new product or service. Ask legal for a "temp check" to see which names look good with a baseline initial search. (Do not pick a name and dictate to legal that no changes are possible.) ➡ STEP 2: Repeat "Step 1" until you have a few names that clear this initial legal review and meet your marketing needs. ➡ STEP 3: Ask legal for a "full clearance search" on the desired name(s). Brace yourself. If a problem is found, go back to "Step 1." ➡ STEP 4: If the name clears the search, instruct legal to file the trademark application ASAP. Your rights in the name are reserved the day your application is filed. ### Following these simple steps will help you find a great name that also avoids creating a significant legal risk for your company. #marketing #branding #CMOs

Trademark enforcement is trickier than most think. Just ask Marvel and DC Comics. After co-owning the "SUPER HEROES" trademark for 40+ years, the companies lost the trademark registrations because of a demand letter sent to a UK company. So what exactly happened here? Well... DC Comics sent a demand letter, claiming that the UK company (Superbabies) was violating the "SUPER HEROES" trademark. Superbabies called their bluff. The company filed a legal action to cancel the "SUPER HEROES" trademark on the grounds it had become generic. Marvel and DC Comics were caught so flat-footed they did not even respond. For the full story: 👇 #Marvel #DCcomics #Trademarks