As this writer, one Charles E. Colman, finishes up his Fall 2013 undergraduate course, "Fashion and Power" (having already wrapped up teaching responsibilities for the law school semester), he is well into the process of developing a syllabus for a new graduate-level course on fashion history and theory, to be offered in Spring 2014 through NYU's M.A. Program in "Visual Culture: Costume Studies."

Wherein I will voice the concerns expressed in my latest piece, "The TTAB's Dangerous Dismissal of Doubt" (forthcoming in Harvard J.L. & Tech. Dig.)

  BLS: "(Anti-)Competitive Effects of Trade Dress Protection in the Fashion Industry"

I'm pleased to break the silence at long last, but sorry, this isn't a news or commentary post -- at least, not directly.  You can always get your fill of fashion-law news and analysis at the LAW OF FASHION LinkedIn group and the super-informative blog for The Center for the Study of Fashion, Law, and Society®.  This post, however, is actually a source cited in my forthcoming piece for the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Digest, entitled "The TTAB's Dangerous Dismissal of 'Doubt.'"  (Hint: The essay has to do with this disaster.)

Sorry, it's a busy time for this writer: 1L Orientation at NYU Law starts tomorrow (and with it, my teaching obligations), client matters require my attention, I'm on the final stretch of Fashion and Copyright. But while this blog remains quiet, you'll find all the fashion law news fit to post within the confines of my schedule at the LAW OF FASHION LinkedIn group, as well as (some of) the latest legal jobs in fashion.

In the relatively high-profile case of Robyn Rihanna Fenty v. Arcadia Group Brands (T/A Topshop), [2013] EWHC 2310 (Ch), Rihanna has prevailed against Topshop before a division of the UK's High Court of Justice.  The court's decision, embedded below, revisits issues that LAW OF FASHION has explored before (in particular, here, here, and here) -- albeit in the context of English rather than U.S. law.

Nelson v. James H. Knight DDS, P.C., 11-1857 (Iowa Jul. 12, 2013)

(excerpts from new opinion, issued in place of original 12/21/12 decision)

MANSFIELD, J. (for the Court) [emphasis added; footnotes omitted]

... In 1999, Dr. Knight hired Nelson to work as a dental assistant in his dental office. At that time, Nelson had just received her community college degree and was twenty years old.

Over the next ten-and-a-half years, Nelson worked as a dental assistant for Dr. Knight. Dr. Knight admits that Nelson was a good dental assistant....