The Law Offices of Melissa K. Dagodag

The Law Offices of Melissa K. Dagodag In Los Angeles, The Law Offices of Melissa K. Dagodag serves entrepreneurial businesses and creative
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My Los Angeles law office serves successful small businesses, entrepreneurs and creative individuals. Trademarks, Copyrights
Learn about my services and the fundamentals of trademarks and copyrights. Business Formation
Learn about my approach and the benefits of forming a corporation, LLC, or partnership. Business Contracts
Read about the value of clear business contracts that protect your interes

ts. Entertainment Law, Music Law and Fashion Law
See why it's useful to have a good attorney with experience in entertainment law, music law and fashion law.

Using Public AI Tools Can Undercut Trade Secret ProtectionEmployers should treat employee use of public generative AI to...
06/10/2026

Using Public AI Tools Can Undercut Trade Secret Protection

Employers should treat employee use of public generative AI tools as a live trade secret risk, because entering source code, customer data, or strategy materials into external platforms can weaken the “reasonable measures” showing required under the DTSA and state trade secret law. The safer approach is to pair narrowly tailored AI-use policies with vendor review, technical controls, documented training, and updated confidentiality agreements, while avoiding overbroad rules that could also create NLRA issues.

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Every time an employee pastes proprietary source code, a customer list, or a confidential business strategy into ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini…

Trader Joe’s Challenges the Uncrustables Trade Dress ClaimsTrader Joe’s is pushing to dismiss or move Smucker’s Uncrusta...
06/03/2026

Trader Joe’s Challenges the Uncrustables Trade Dress Claims
Trader Joe’s is pushing to dismiss or move Smucker’s Uncrustables lawsuit, teeing up an early battle over whether the sandwich shape, crimped edge design, and related packaging elements truly function as protectable trade dress and source identifiers. The dispute is likely to hinge on whether Smucker can prove that consumers associate those features specifically with Uncrustables, with survey evidence expected to play a major role, especially for the product-design claims.

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The JM Smucker Company product Uncrustables is a widely popular pre-made peanut-butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J). According to The New York Times…

E-Commerce Is Reshaping IP EnforcementCross-border IP enforcement now demands a coordinated strategy built around platfo...
05/28/2026

E-Commerce Is Reshaping IP Enforcement

Cross-border IP enforcement now demands a coordinated strategy built around platform takedowns, customs recordation, targeted litigation, and intelligence-led investigations rather than one-off reactions to individual listings. Online marketplaces and fast-moving cross-border supply chains have made infringement more fragmented and harder to contain, which is why effective enforcement increasingly depends on combining legal rights with operational speed and market intelligence.

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Cross-Border IP Enforcement has moved from being a niche litigation concern to a boardroom priority. In an era where a single online listing can…

Can a Legacy Brand Still Claim Dilution Fame?The Blockbuster opposition puts a sharp focus on whether a mark’s past hous...
05/27/2026

Can a Legacy Brand Still Claim Dilution Fame?

The Blockbuster opposition puts a sharp focus on whether a mark’s past household recognition can still support a dilution claim even after the brand’s commercial presence has largely faded. If the TTAB is willing to treat historical fame as enough, diminished legacy brands could gain broader enforcement leverage, and new applicants may need to think more carefully about adopting marks that evoke once-dominant names.

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Key Takeaway: A case currently before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) has the potential to significantly widen the scope of trademark…

Building a Business Name Into a Defensible BrandThe real value in a business name comes from choosing one that is distin...
05/21/2026

Building a Business Name Into a Defensible Brand

The real value in a business name comes from choosing one that is distinctive enough to protect, clearing it early, and treating trademark strategy as part of launch planning rather than an afterthought. A properly protected name can evolve into a long-term business asset that supports enforcement, licensing, expansion, and brand equity, while weak or unchecked names can lead to rebranding costs, conflict, and lost growth opportunities.​

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Every great business starts with an idea, but the businesses that last are the ones that turn ideas into assets. One of the most overlooked (and most…

Trademark Filing Gets a Digital UpgradeThe USPTO is modernizing its trademark system with updated online filing tools, s...
05/20/2026

Trademark Filing Gets a Digital Upgrade

The USPTO is modernizing its trademark system with updated online filing tools, stronger cleanup efforts targeting unused or fraudulent registrations, and emerging AI-based tools that could help identify conflicts and assess application viability earlier in the process. For applicants, that means a potentially faster, cleaner, and more cost-effective filing environment, along with a good reason to review current brand use, confirm marks are actively maintained, and move quickly on new filings before competitors do.

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The U.S. Trademark Office is in the middle of a major tech glow-up. With new online filing systems, enhanced tools to eliminate fake or dormant…

Food Rule Changes Are Forcing an IP Strategy ResetNew food and packaging requirements are pushing companies to treat ref...
05/14/2026

Food Rule Changes Are Forcing an IP Strategy Reset

New food and packaging requirements are pushing companies to treat reformulation, supplier changes, and product redesign as intellectual property issues rather than just regulatory compliance projects. As businesses move away from synthetic dyes, PFAS, and other increasingly restricted inputs, stronger trade secret practices, tighter vendor agreements, and updated patent and trademark strategies become critical to protecting the value created during the transition.​

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The past year has brought a seismic shift in how the federal government, and states, regulate what goes into our food and how it is packaged. From…

Turning AI Into a Protectable Business AssetFor SMEs, the real opportunity is to stop treating AI as a routine operating...
05/12/2026

Turning AI Into a Protectable Business Asset

For SMEs, the real opportunity is to stop treating AI as a routine operating expense and start managing it as an identifiable, protectable, and monetizable form of intangible capital. A disciplined framework that classifies AI assets, matches them to the right mix of patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and contracts, and ties them to governance and valuation can strengthen licensing strategy, investor confidence, and long-term enterprise value.

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SME Business Leaders should read this article to: Reframe AI as strategic capital Learn to monetize AI investments Understand IP protections for AI…

Human Authorship Rule Stays in Place for U.S. CopyrightThe Supreme Court’s refusal to take up Thaler v. Perlmutter leave...
05/08/2026

Human Authorship Rule Stays in Place for U.S. Copyright

The Supreme Court’s refusal to take up Thaler v. Perlmutter leaves intact the current U.S. rule that copyright protection requires human authorship, meaning works generated entirely by AI without meaningful human creative input remain outside copyright protection. The denial also reinforces a broader judicial pattern across U.S. intellectual property law, with courts continuing to treat AI as a tool rather than a legal author or inventor.

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On March 2, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Dr. Stephen Thaler’s petition for writ of certiorari, declining to consider whether an artificial…

MARIO’S Clothing Application Blocked by MARIO’S 3.10 Apparel Store RegistrationThe TTAB affirmed a Section 2(d) refusal ...
05/06/2026

MARIO’S Clothing Application Blocked by MARIO’S 3.10 Apparel Store Registration

The TTAB affirmed a Section 2(d) refusal against MARIO’S for clothing and footwear, finding likely confusion with the registered mark MARIO’S 3.10 for retail apparel store services because the shared MARIO’S element dominated the marks and apparel retail services are closely related to the goods sold through those stores. The Board also rejected the applicant’s crowded-field argument, concluding that the cited third-party MARIO-formative evidence was too limited or too distinguishable to materially weaken the registered mark.

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The “crowded field” argument is a common strategy used to overcome likelihood of confusion refusals: if an applicant points to enough similar…

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