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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a politician walks onto a rally stage to a famous rock song. The musician objects. The lawyers arrive.

Actually, in the latest Neil Young dispute, you really have heard this one before.

Young has filed a new federal copyright infringement lawsuit against Trump 47 Committee, Inc., alleging an unauthorized public performance of his composition ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’ The complaint identifies an October 12, 2026 rally in Youngstown, Ohio, and alleges that the song was played at other rallies as well.

There is an added twist worthy of a greatest-hits album: Young previously sued a different Trump organization over the same composition. That makes the new lawsuit an interesting reminder that, when it comes to event music, ‘but everybody knows the song’ is not a licensing strategy.

Neil Young, doing business as Silver Fiddle Music, filed the complaint on October 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. He alleges copyright infringement based on an unauthorized public performance of ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ at the October 12 rally.

According to the complaint, Trump 47 Committee, Inc. allegedly caused the song to be played just before Donald J. Trump took the stage and allegedly caused it to be played at other rallies as well.

Young is seeking $10 million in damages as well as  an injunction against further unauthorized performances.

Continue Reading You Can’t Always Get What You Want: When Campaign Music Becomes a Copyright Lawsuit
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If you’ve ever tried to carve a pumpkin, you know it’s not as easy as it seems. The knife gets stuck, one eye ends up bigger than the other, and your jack-o’-lantern looks less “terrifying” and more “mildly concerned.” Necessity is the mother of invention, so it’s no surprise that in 1979, Christopher A. Nauman came up with a better way to carve a pumpkin, and then patented it. The Patent Office apparently enjoys a little drama, because U.S. Patent No. 4,296,659: Jack-O-Lantern Forming Method, was granted on October 27, 1981, four days before Halloween.

Continue Reading Trick or Claim? What a Pumpkin Patent Teaches Us About Method Claims
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On October 26th, Lauren Leipold, J.C. Heinbockel, and Raymond Wong presented “Trademark Strategy for Asian Companies Entering the U.S. Market: Trademark Protection and Monetization.” The program explored an increasingly important question for companies looking to grow in the United States: how can trademark strategy support not just brand protection, but broader business objectives?

For Asian companies entering the U.S., one of the most important distinctions is that U.S. trademark rights are based largely on use in commerce. Registration offers important benefits, but registration alone does not establish ownership. For companies accustomed to first-to-file systems, that distinction places a premium on early clearance, including consideration of prior marketplace use as well as federal applications and registrations.

Ownership also deserves attention well before filing. Whether a mark is held by the Asian parent, a U.S. subsidiary, or a dedicated IP holding company can have implications for how the business uses, controls, licenses, and enforces its rights. Getting the structure wrong at the filing stage can create complications that follow a brand for years.

Asian-origin marks bring another layer of complexity. Translation and transliteration requirements, as well as the meaning of translated terms, can all influence the U.S. analysis. And the strategy should not end when a registration issues. Maintaining rights, exercising quality control in licensing arrangements, monitoring third-party use, and considering enforcement options all become part of protecting the value of the brand as the U.S. business grows.

Continue Reading U.S. Trademark Strategy: What Asian Companies Should Consider Before Entering the Market
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The legal profession has spent the past few years asking whether generative AI is trustworthy. Will it draft a contract, research an issue, summarize a record, or invent a case with impressive confidence? California’s new law shifts the focus to a more practical question: who takes responsibility when lawyers use it?

On September 30, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 574, which legal industry news outlets described as a first-of-its-kind framework for attorneys’ and arbitrators’ use of generative AI. The law does not push AI out of legal practice. Instead, it sets ground rules for confidentiality, verification, disclosure, and human judgment.

Continue Reading The End of “My AI Made Me Do It”: California’s New Rules for Lawyers and Generative AI
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Nobody likes the grammar police. Patent lawyers, unfortunately, may be the exception.

In Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Pfizer Inc. No. 2025-1427 (Fed. Cir. June 23, 2026), one character did a lot of damage. The difference between C2 and C1 cost Enanta the priority date of its provisional application—and led the Federal Circuit to affirm that the challenged claims were anticipated.

Turns out proofreading really can be worth millions.

But the case raises a more interesting question: Even if Enanta had gotten that one number right, did its provisional actually demonstrate possession of the later-claimed invention?

Enanta’s patent (U.S. Patent No. 11,358,953) covered compounds for inhibiting coronavirus replication and claimed priority to a provisional application filed in July 2020.

Continue Reading The One-Carbon Mistake That Cost A Patent Its Priority Date
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Shady’s back, back again—but this time with limited trademark success. In a prior post, we outlined how rapper Eminem has aggressively pursued protection of his trademarks in the United States and abroad, including a petition before the USPTO seeking cancellation of an Australian beachwear brand’s registration for the mark SWIM SHADY. At the time, related proceedings were still pending in Australia. Now, IP Australia, the government agency responsible for trademark registrations, has weighed in.

Continue Reading Hi, My Name Is … Swim Shady? A Recent Setback in Eminem’s Global Trademark Enforcement Efforts Clears the Way for an Australian Beachwear Brand
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Introduction

In our earlier Earth Day post, we provided an overview of California Senate Bill 343 — the landmark law that rewrites the rules governing when and how recyclability claims may be made on products and packaging sold in California. We noted that a coalition of trade associations had filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California challenging SB 343 on First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment Due Process grounds, and that the case was “still in the very early stages.” We promised that future posts would discuss the status of that case. Promise made, promise kept.

We have an update — and it is a significant one. On July 14, 2026, the Honorable William Q. Hayes issued a 67-page ruling granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, finding SB 343 unconstitutional, and enjoining California Attorney General Rob Bonta and all those acting in concert with him from enforcing SB 343. For businesses that had been racing to assess compliance ahead of the statute’s October 4, 2026 effective date, this ruling provides meaningful — if temporary — breathing room.

But the decision does far more than press pause. It delivers a detailed judicial analysis of SB 343’s constitutional deficiencies across two independent grounds — vagueness under the Fourteenth Amendment, and infringing on free speech under the First Amendment — that will shape the litigation going forward and may influence how California and other states approach recyclability regulation in the future.

Continue Reading The First Amendment Meets the Chasing Arrows: Federal Court Blocks Enforcement of California’s SB 343
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Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal profession, creating new opportunities and challenges for both corporate legal departments and outside counsel. As AI tools become more integrated into legal workflows, organizations are reassessing how legal services are delivered, measured, and managed.

On July 23, Seyfarth Partner Lauren Leipold will join industry leaders for WIPR Insights’ webinar, In-House and Outside Counsel Relationships in the AI Era: Rethinking Evaluation and Collaboration. The discussion will examine how AI is changing expectations around legal speed, cost, and quality; what in-house legal teams now prioritize when selecting and evaluating outside counsel; and how organizations can balance innovation with accountability.

The panel will also explore the importance of transparency, disclosure, and governance in AI-assisted legal work, as well as practical approaches to strengthening trust and collaboration between legal service providers and their clients.

Lauren will be joined by Ann Palma (Saint-Gobain), Maya Kanter Varfman (AmDocs), and Chris Parsonson (Solve Intelligence).

We invite you to register and join this timely discussion on the evolving future of legal partnerships in the AI era.

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In Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino’s character famously describes American football as a game of inches. In this football—umm, soccer—that line has become almost literal: joy, heartbreak, and World Cup survival can now turn on a toe, a shoulder, or a few millimeters.

Just ask Iran.

For a few glorious seconds, Iran had done it. In the 93rd minute against Egypt, Shoja Khalilzadeh bundled the ball into the net. Seattle Stadium erupted. Players sprinted toward the corner flag. Millions of Iranian fans around the world celebrated what appeared to be the winning goal that would send Iran through. Then came the dreaded signal: VAR (Video Assistant Referee). In an instant, joy was shown the red card.

After a lengthy review, the goal disappeared. An Iranian attacker had been offside by mere millimeters when the shot was taken. The celebration lasted longer than the goal itself—a brutal reminder that, in modern football, even a toe can be caught straying past the last defender.

Sound familiar?

Continue Reading From Ecstasy to Agony: The Patented Technology Behind VAR’s Most Heartbreaking World Cup Moments
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Seyfarth had the honor of participating in and sponsoring the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) VIA Intellectual Property Law Institute (IPLI), a weeklong program held in Washington, DC.

The annual IPLI program offers law students the opportunity to participate in an engaging week of programming with practitioners across the field. Students met with lawyers, judges, regulators, and policymakers from key institutions, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the U.S. Copyright Office, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The program also included a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court. The jam-packed week concluded with a closing ceremony and celebratory happy hour for students, volunteers, speakers, and practitioners, hosted by Seyfarth’s Washington, D.C., office.

Continue Reading A Week in Washington, DC: Seyfarth Engages Emerging IP Talent at the HNBA VIA Intellectual Property Law Institute