IP Goes Pop

In this episode, IP Goes Pop! co-hosts and Volpe Koenig shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue take you through their first round of pop culture "game-changers." That is, who were the people, artists, or innovators where the world was never the same after them? Michael and Joe set the table with their choices for iconic pop-culture game changers in basketball, music fandoms, special effect...

Co-hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue are joined by fellow intellectual property attorney and Volpe Koenig Shareholder, Randy Huis, to once again visit the town of Springfield in the fictional, but full of real fun, world of  The Simpsons . Explore eight popular inventions concocted by Professor Frink and their real-world manifestations, or possibly inspirations. From the sports betting apps n...

Virtually visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an inside look at the many available resources, World Intellectual Property (IP) Day, and how inventors of any age can bring their ideas into the world. Join podcast co-hosts, Volpe Koenig Shareholders, and intellectual property lawyers, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue for a conversation with USPTO Regional Outreach Directo...

This episode covers the basics of what is involved in licensing intellectual property rights and character rights from one medium, studio, or universe into another. Volpe Koenig intellectual property attorneys and IP Goes Pop! co-hosts, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue cover the intellectual property rights involved in pop-culture crossovers that allow fans to see their beloved characters, from di...

IP Goes POP! takes you out to the ball game (and the blockchain) for this episode of the podcast that looks at the shift from "collectible trading cards" to "collectable NFTs". Podcast co-hosts, Volpe Koenig Shareholders, and intellectual property lawyers, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue round the bases and pull out their most memorable sports cards as they slide home to talk about the intellectu...

What can the world of wizards, witches, and magic teach us about real-world intellectual property? The global franchise that is the Harry Potter universe has been both a pioneer and target of IP litigation. This episode will provide some observations for creating a fictional world that has aspects protectable in the real world.  When it comes to protecting your intellectual property, there are no...

This episode of IP Goes Pop! traces the development of a brand from its inception to a seminal trademark. No matter the size of a business, it is important to grow your brand and establish goodwill in your name - and for that, you need a strong trademark. In this podcast episode, IP Goes Pop! co-hosts, Volpe Koenig Shareholders, and intellectual property lawyers, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue,...

Explore football movies, toys, patents, and trademarks that have shaped the sport in modern times. From the technology built into the players' helmets, to the glowing first-down line you see on television, intellectual property has a huge impact on the way we interface with football. As we look ahead to the big game, join co-hosts and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joe Gushue, along...

Co-hosts and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue, are back for a journey into the public domain. What do Bambi, Mickey Mouse, and Winnie the Pooh all have in common? Besides remaining lovable pop-culture icons, these cartoon characters are all part of copyrighted works entering the public domain. With the help of their fellow Shareholder John O'Malley, they walk through the...

Sometimes you have to ask the critical questions, like: Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie? How can you turn your holiday invention into a patent-protected idea? In our first-ever IP Goes Pop! Snow-Tacular™, co-hosts and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joe Gushue, unwrap the iconic pop culture movies, traditions, and intellectual property disputes around the most wonderful time of the yea...

From the iconic Air Jordans to the Reebok Pumps to the undeniable influence of the Chuck Taylor All-Stars, sneakers have become pop-culture currency. As their status has shifted from a piece of sports equipment, meant to be scuffed up, into collectors' items that are kept in pristine conditions, sneaker culture has become a multi-billion dollar market. So how do you, as a brand or consumer, guaran...

Why would a company, from the largest to the smallest, spend years building a reputation using its trademarked name and logo, and then suddenly decide to make a complete change? This week on IP Goes Pop! we explore some famous "rebrands," the ones that worked, the ones that may not have worked. The podcast also looks at what we can learn from Facebook's rebrand to "Meta" (announced October 2021) a...

In this spooktacular episode of IP Goes Pop! treat yourself to the intellectual property (IP) of Halloween. From the disputes surrounding the iconic Halloween mask to the similarities, and important differences, between some people's favorite friendly ghost, Casper, and the ghost in the Ghostbusters logo, who ya gonna call but IP Goes Pop hosts, and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Jo...

This week IP Goes Pop! takes to the skies to explore intellectual property in the world of aviation. From the first flight in Kitty Hawk, NC, to the advancements in aircraft that came out of World War I, what patents have taken to the skies since the Wright Brothers first took flight in 1903?   In this episode, Volpe Koenig Shareholders and IP Goes Pop! co-hosts, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue,...

How do comedians protect their jokes or their delivery style? This week IP Goes Pop! goes to the comedy club to find the line between creative freedom and stolen (or borrowed) laughs. Join Volpe Koenig Shareholders and hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue as they welcome Volpe Koenig alum and comedy fan Aneesh Metha, Senior Corporate Counsel for Experiences and Devices at Microsoft.    Michael,...

When popular television, movie, or comic book characters are recast into three-dimensional, bendable, transformable toys, what intellectual property considerations go into their design? In this episode the panel on IP Goes Pop! takes apart iconic action figures, past and present, to explore the patents, design patents, licensing, and other intellectual property surrounding these valued toys and co...

This week IP Goes Pop! carries a torch for IP at the Olympics. Join co-hosts and Volpe Koenig shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue for a relay through the intellectual property involved in putting on a global athletic competition that turns its top competitors into household names.    In this episode, Michael and Joe dive into the trademarked words, phrases and logos owned by the Interna...

This week on IP Goes Pop! fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder Ryan O'Donnell joins co-hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue to explore the technical world of the TV show Silicon Valley, the intellectual property (IP) challenges faced by fictional compression algorithm company Pied Piper, and how realistic those challenges are to those of real world tech start-ups.   Michael, Joe, and Ryan consider "w...

This week on IP Goes Pop! Volpe Koenig attorney and Ph. D. Douglas Bucklin joins co-hosts and shareholders Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue to travel back in time, and somehow also to the future, to explore intellectual property interests in the area of genetic engineering. In this episode, Michael, Joe, and Doug discuss, among other pop culture icons, the Jurassic Park movies and how the genetic...

What is an NFT ( Non-Fungible Token )? How are they created? Why would you collect digital files that anyone can obtain or view for free? This week on IP Goes Pop! fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder Joseph Gushue returns to the podcast and joins Michael Snyder to talk about the ABCs of NFTs . Michael and Joe break down some of the technical jargon behind NFTs and the basics of the blockchain, as they...

Fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder Wesley McMichael joins Michael Snyder to talk about inventors Thomas Edison's and Nikola Tesla's "battle of currents".  Michael and Wes have an electric conversation about the race to light up the country and the patents that both paved the way for providing power. They explore the difference between the direct current (DC), championed, sometimes to a shocking extre...

Fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder Robert Leonard joins host Michael Snyder to talk about artist's rights, and attempts by musicians to regain rights to their original recordings. From Taylor Swift to Prince, IP Goes Pop! looks at what's at stake when giving up rights to master recordings. In this episode, Michael and Robert explore how musicians try to "take back the music" and discuss how different...

What happens when someone believes a movie is based on their original idea? What sets one Zombie film apart from another? In this episode of IP Goes Pop! intellectual property attorney and host, Michael Snyder, is joined by his fellow shareholder at Volpe Koenig, Joseph Gushue , for a trip to a Hollywood writer's room.  Michael and Joe explore the intellectual property issues surrounding the stori...

In this episode, Volpe Koenig Shareholder Michael Snyder explores what happens when real-world intellectual property makes its way into the virtual (video game) world. Michael looks at the outcomes of two separate cases involving famous major video game franchises, and how their use of real-world images ended up in court For show notes and to learn more please visit vklaw.com , you can also connec...

This week IP Goes Pop!® makes patents fun (or at least tries)! Volpe Koenig Shareholder and IP Goes Pop!® guest Randy Huis is back to explore the world of toy patents with host Michael Snyder. In this episode we invite you to journey back to a time before computer screens, to play along and see if you can guess the famous toys behind some obscure patent descriptions and titles. What is a "Whirligi...