Naked Cowboy Sues M&M's
National News
"This is the case of The Naked Cowboy versus The Blue M&M," afederal judge wrote in allowing The Naked Cowboy's lawsuit against Marscandy and Chute Gerdeman ad agency to proceed. "Plaintiff Robert Burckis a 'street entertainer' who performs in New York City's Times Square,wearing only a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and underpants, andcarrying a guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity."He claims Mars & Chute Gerdeman based a Times Square billboard adon his character, "featuring a blue M&M dressed 'exactly like TheNaked Cowboy,' wearing only a white cowboy hate, cowboy boots, andunderpants, and carrying a guitar."
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin kindly attached photos of the two characters at the top of his ruling.
Burck,who has registered The Naked Cowboy as a trademark, claims defendants'animated cartoon ad on two enormous billboards in Times Square violatedhis trademark and his right to publicity.
Chin dismissed thetrademark complaint, finding that New York law "protects the name,portrait, or picture of a 'living person,' not a character created or arole performed by a living person. Burck may proceed, however, with hisfalse endorsement claim, for he plausibly alleges that consumers seeingdefendants' advertisement would conclude - incorrectly - that heendorsed M&M candy."
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USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.
For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.
Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.
USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.