You're probably correct -- you need to contact the closest relatives. It's complicated by the fact that you have two completely different areas of...

Have your publisher read Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 (9th Cir. 1989) (a trademark case finding a First Amendment privilege) and Mattel Inc. v....

Chances are the Terms and Conditions and/or Contest Rules provide the answers. There are no laws that protect "ideas" and it sounds like you took...

Retain a lawyer. As at least implied in the answer above, Avvo is a place to provide general guidance and not to answer specific questions. Plus...

Pretty much everything is in the Compendium. That's where I'd look if a client needed it.

Maybe. Two issues: (1) you will be infringing if your mark and goods are too similar to the other one and (2) even if you avoid infringement,...

Celebrities have a "right of publicity" plus they may also have trademark rights. The fact that others have not been caught yet is not a defense...

Replica is usually a euphemism for counterfeit. Assume it will cost you $50,000 or so if you're caught.

You are over-analyzing differences and confusing business entity law with trademark law. Trademark law doesn't work that way. Essentially, think...

All good questions but there are too many additional variables to answer, and you shouldn't want the answer on a public board. Retain a trademark...