A trial over a trademark dispute relating to an unlicensed online retailer’s sale of apparel and other merchandise bearing historic or retro logos and images of universities has concluded. In 2021, the Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State”) brought suit against Vintage Brand (“Vintage”) for trademark infringement and other claims in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, styled as The Pennsylvania State University v. Vintage Brand, LLC et al., 4:21-cv-1091. Since that time, at least a dozen other schools have sued Vintage on similar grounds, but this was the first case to go to trial and it has been watched intently by the trademark world as a bellwether case in the sports merchandising industry landscape and perhaps beyond.

Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) and Elon Musk suffered another setback in their continuing efforts to overcome a legal challenge to a 2018 performance-based stock option grant (the “Grant”) that, at today’s stock price, would be worth over $100 billion to Musk. Brian Cromer takes a look at the case in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) will update its trademark fee schedule effective January 18, 2025. Alex MacKay takes at look at the changes in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.

As Kentucky prepares for the 2025 legislative session, Stites & Harbison will be watching to see whether the General Assembly expands data center tax incentives beyond House Bill 8 (“HB 8”) which was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2024. Among other provisions, HB 8 creates sales and use tax exemptions on data center equipment for eligible entities engaged in providing qualified data center infrastructure.