By: Alex Nelson

In just over five years, Allbirds Inc. successfully built a billion dollar company around what have been referred to as “the world’s most comfortable shoes.” Any discerning observer just needs to walk around tech cities like Seattle or San Francisco to see a small army of young professionals wearing the distinctive lightweight wool shoes. Allbirds provides sustainable wool athletic sneakers that are made almost entirely of natural materials. The company’s website specifies that the shoes are made using “materials that exist right in front of us” in order to reduce the environmental impact of the retail process. A standard pair of Allbirds contains recycled bottles, sugarcane stalks, and castor bean oil rather than inorganic materials that would have a larger environmental footprint. Additionally, Allbirds’ direct to consumer model allows them to utilize a box which functions as a shipping box and shoebox all in one. The box contains about 40% less material, is made of 95% recycled cardboard, and is 100% recyclable.

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By: Justin Brascher

Sports gambling is everywhere. When you watch ESPN, it is quite common for the night’s big game to scroll across the ticker on the bottom of the screen, with the point spread–a number only used for betting purposes– listed next to the teams playing in the game. But if betting on the game is illegal in thirty-nine states, then why is the number listed?

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By: Emily Donohue

A trademark is a “word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” Registered trademarks are both valuable assets to companies and helpful to potential consumers evaluating a purchase. Building goodwill with consumers takes time, and without the protection of a registered trademark, a company’s reputation could be tarnished by a competitor selling deceptively similar products or services of inferior value.

The recognizable trademark of a trusted brand signals to a consumer that their purchase will conform to the quality they expect from the brand. Conversely, if a brand has a poor reputation, a consumer knows to avoid the product. Considering the economic value of a properly registered trademark, one would assume that companies doing business in the United States take great care to ensure their trademarks are protected. However, the recently updated rule from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implies otherwise.

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By: Matthew Jurgensmeier

Machine learning —a subset of artificial intelligence that teaches a machine to complete a task through iteration— provides significant possibilities for the future of production across many mediums, including video, music, and text. As these machine learning technologies evolve, they present opportunities for users to increase their efficiency and focus on less structured tasks.  However, machine learning may also present problems on both a legal and a societal level.

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By: Jacob Plovanic

Counterfeits, knockoffs, and plagiarism have long plagued Amazon’s Marketplace, the e-commerce giant’s online storefront. In the 20 years that the company has allowed third-party sellers to retail to Amazon customers alongside its own products, third-party sales have ballooned to $160 billion, accounting for 58% of all Marketplace sales in 2018, making the site a focal point for intellectual property piracy of all stripes – copyright, trademark, and patent.  Continue reading →