Mark Sommers on Obama v. Demstore: Candidate Support or Campaign Funding

Online retailer DemStore.com was recently blocked from using President Obama's "Rising Sun" logo on unauthorized campaign merchandise, after the Obama for America campaign committee filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. The preliminary injunction states the company cannot use the trademarked campaign logo or "confusingly similar" images on its products. The case illustrates how intellectual property is becoming more important in political campaigns, but also brings up some questions around the purpose of trademarks. In this podcast, Finnegan partner Mark Sommers discusses the critical issues surrounding the Obama v. DemStore case.