Last year, one of the big stories the day after the Super Bowl® was about the “Left Shark.” Left Shark was a dancer in Katie Perry’s halftime show that was (intentionally?) off beat. Who was Left Shark? Was their performance on purpose? And then the IP issues arose… who owns the rights to the Left Shark name? And copyright (and/or trademark) rights in the costume design? Within a week after the Super Bowl, Perry’s company (Killer Queen, LLC) applied to register both LEFT SHARK and RIGHT SHARK trademarks with the USPTO covering variety of goods and services, including live musical performances. Currently, both applications have been approved by the USPTO and published in the public record (the ‘Official Gazette’). Perry’s company also filed to register the design of the shark (below), but that application was abandoned shortly thereafter. However, a few days later, Perry’s company filed two new…
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