Firm Insights

Make America Naughty Again: The Risk of Risqué Trademarks

By Michael A. Kahn / February 21, 2018 / Comments Off on Make America Naughty Again: The Risk of Risqué Trademarks

Two years ago, in a post entitled “Is Your Brand Naughty or Nice? The New Santa at the Trademark Office“, I discussed some rulings at the U.S. Trademark Office that suggested that those old fuddy-duddies might be relaxing their view of what types of trademarks violate the immoral/scandalous rule in the Lanham Act. In addition…

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Tax Code Section 104: Disparate Treatment of Settlement Proceeds

By Michelle F. Schwerin / February 21, 2018 / Comments Off on Tax Code Section 104: Disparate Treatment of Settlement Proceeds

Tax Code Section 104(a)(2) provides that “damages (other than punitive damages) received … on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness” are excludable from the recipient’s gross income for tax purposes.  In 1996, Congress, through the Small Business Job Protection Act, amended this section to specifically provide that damages received under a claim of…

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Initial Coin Offerings: A Primer and Suggestion of Impending Issues

By Michelle F. Schwerin / February 16, 2018 / Comments Off on Initial Coin Offerings: A Primer and Suggestion of Impending Issues

Part One of Three: This is the first of a three-part blog series.  In this post, I will describe generally how an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) operates.  Stay tuned for discussions in my second and third posts on how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service might characterize and treat these ICOs.…

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