Tammy Duckworth was born in Thailand. Her father was a U.S. citizen. That makes her a “natural born” citizen under some (most) people’s definition of the phrase.  There are people who argue that the founders meant for “natural born” to mean only children born in the U.S. or U.S. territories.  The definition is sort…

You misread the article.

You’re quoting the wrong song. You’re quoting “Memories” from the soundtrack of The Way We Were, a movie starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Their using the song “Memories” from the Broadway play Cats. Those lyrics contain this:

U.S. Trademark law is based on who first used the mark not who first filed a trademark application. FWIW, a search of the U.S. Trademark database does not show any trademark applications or registrations for LADY A that were filed by Lady Antebellum until earlier this year. Even if they filed a state trademark…

I disagree. I don’t think Lady Antebellum’s case is that straightforward. Remember, the filing tells only one side of the story and it presents the facts in a way that puts the petitioner’s claim in the best light. It ignores the fact that Anita White was the first to use the mark (which is a very important fact). …

Not really. The United States is a common law country, which means the first person to use the mark is the first person to own the rights to the mark. The fact that FKA Lady Antebellum recently filed a trademark application doesn’t really mean anything unless they can prove that the band was using the mark LADY A…

Exactly. I was born in 1959 and it has always been a pejorative term.

I am old enough to have watched Dark Shadows when it first aired. If my memory serves me right (and at my age that’s not a given) this show aired in Chicago at 3:30 p.m. We got out of school at 3:00 p.m. I lived a mile and a half from school and all the kids in my neighborhood would run home in order to be home in…

Okay, this one is for the old folks. There was a song released in the 60s by a pop group named Herman’s Hermits called “Mrs Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.” The song came out when I was about 6-7. I always sang the opening lyrics as “Mrs. Brown you’ve got a lovely daughter. Girls with chartreuse hair are…

According to the article, Guyger will not be eligible for parole.

Given that both houses of the California legislature unanimously passed this bill, even if Governor Newsom vetoes the bill there appear to be more than enough votes to override his veto.

Aww, I don’t know if that’s true. I used to work for a law firm that did trademark work for the Coppolas and had to deal with Sofia for work on her production company and she was always so personable and easy to deal with. When she came into the office, she was always on time and alone, not even an assistant. She…

He would have been within his rights to refuse to answer. Since he was told he was not being detained, the conversation falls under the consensual category and SCOTUS has ruled you do not need to give any identifying information to police if you don’t want to.

It’s not uncommon for people with head injuries to suffer partial amnesia about events prior to or immediately after being injured so his claims of amnesia is that far-fetched. That being said, I don’t believe his story either. It’s too complicated. Sounds to me like he needed some time to figure out where to dump…

Okay, I’m going to admit doing something similar once. I was in college taking a photography class and I had checked out some equipment for a project that was due the next week. The project had to be photographed that weekend so we could get the film developed (pre-digital) in order to show in class that week. It…

As a kid, I lived in an apartment over a dentist with my mom and siblings. The front of the apartment faced the street and, since this was pre-mall, the street was filled with stores and business like the dentist so it had a lot of pedestrian traffic. One day my sister and I were having an argument and she made me…

They don’t need to file for a trademark to keep their daughter’s image off of products.  There are laws specifically in place which make it illegal to use someone’s image without their permission.  It’s called “right of publicity.”

No, Pillsbury (a company that sells baking foodstuffs like flour and sugar and premade baked goods like dinner rolls that just need to be heated up in the oven) own the U.S. trademark to “bake off” for cooking completions. Therefore, the show couldn’t use “bake off” because it would have infringed on Pillsbury’s…

This would probably fall under a right of publicity issue. Copyrights are more about original works of authorship, like novels, songwriting, computer software. Although as I’m typing this, I realize that the person who took the photo they’re using could sue for unauthorized use of his/her photograph.

I agreed with most of the advice except for whether you should sleep with a person on the first date. My advice would be that you don’t sleep with them if you don’t want to. If your sleeping with them in the hopes of making them like you more that’s the wrong thing to do. But if you’re horny, they’re attractive, go…