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Media Contact: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus, Inc., 248.260.8466 or barbara@eafocus.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – March 18, 2016 – Briana Emerson and Shareholder Michael N. Spink, intellectual property attorneys in the Ann Arbor office of Brinks Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S., presented at the March 18 meeting of the Washtenaw County Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section.

Presenting the topic, A Spirited Spin on Non-Traditional Trademarks, Spink and Emerson noted how traditional trademarks of words, drawings and images have expanded to include sound, scent, texture, motion and color. The attorneys paid special attention in their presentation to the quickly evolving world of trademarks in college sports, with universities aggressively seeking trademark protection for not only helmets, athletic attire and clothing color combinations, but hand gestures, hog call “cheers” and other school spirit traditions used at athletic contests.

Emerson and Spink, who blogs and tweets about unusual trademarks @funkymarks, have been writing about university trademarks for a few years. Their co-written article, We’ve Got Spirit – And it’s Trademarked, appeared in Law 360 in March 2015.

Brinks Gilson & Lione
The attorneys, scientific advisors and patent agents at Brinks Gilson & Lione focus their practice in the field of intellectual property. Brinks is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S. Clients around the world use Brinks to help them protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. Brinks lawyers provide counseling in all aspects of patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret and copyright law. More information is at www.brinksgilson.com.

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