Judge Sunshine Sykes takes on the Fifth Circuit’s approach to cannabis advertising and the First Amendment. Her thoughtful preliminary injunction opinion examines the same-sovereign theory, consumers’ rights to commercial information, and why federal cannabis prohibition should not automatically end the constitutional inquiry. Read the opinion, appellate briefs, and access the Ninth Circuit oral argument.
Sutter Home won twice in its effort to block El Bandido Yankee’s trademarks. Then the Ninth Circuit reversed, explaining why the whole mark matters and why evidence of marketplace coexistence deserved consideration. The decision offers beverage brands practical lessons about resisting expansive trademark claims and building the evidence needed to defend a name.
The original March 2025 Day v. Henry opinion divided the Ninth Circuit over Arizona’s retailer shipping restrictions. This article examines the majority, dissent, and the developing Tennessee Wine framework.
The Ninth Circuit’s 2020 lipstick-mark decision examines the overall marketplace presentation of Jim Beam and Johnny Love vodka branding.
This archived 2020 analysis examines the Ninth Circuit’s Bad Spaniels ruling on Jack Daniel’s trademarks, parody, dilution, and expressive works.
