C & T Newsletters
December 2025
Disney Embraces Generative AI Through Landmark OpenAI Partnership
Takeaway: Disney agreed to a three-year licensing deal and a $1 billion investment in OpenAI to bring its iconic characters to the Sora AI video generator, showing that even the most IP-protective companies are opting for controlled AI partnerships to both monetize and safeguard their creative assets..
Disney has entered a landmark three-year partnership with OpenAI, including a $1 billion investment, to bring its beloved characters, ranging from Mickey Mouse and Minnie to characters from Frozen, Encanto, Toy Story, and many more, into OpenAI’s Sora AI video generator. Under the agreement, Disney will also become a major customer of OpenAI’s services, using the technology to develop new products, experiences, and enhanced content for Disney+, while both companies emphasize a shared commitment to responsible AI use, including measures to protect user safety and the rights of creators.
The collaboration represents a significant strategic shift for Disney, a company long known for aggressively protecting its intellectual property, and highlights a growing trend of controlled partnerships with AI technology. By embracing this approach, Disney aims to expand its storytelling capabilities, offer fans more personalized and interactive experiences, and explore innovative ways to leverage its vast creative portfolio, demonstrating that even the most IP-conscious companies are finding opportunities in emerging AI technologies while maintaining strict protections for their creative assets.
Federal Judge Dismisses Trademark Bid Over Campaign Slogan in California Governor’s Race
Takeaway: A federal judge ruled that trademark law cannot be used to monopolize common campaign phrases, reinforcing that political speech enjoys strong protection and is not easily constrained by trademark claims.
A California federal judge dismissed gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck’s trademark lawsuit seeking to block opponent Antonio Villaraigosa from using the phrase “proven problem solver” in his campaign, finding that enforcing such a mark would improperly restrict political speech. The court ruled that trademark law under the Lanham Act is primarily intended to protect commercial speech, not common political campaign rhetoric, and warned that granting exclusive rights to the phrase would effectively give Cloobeck a monopoly over ordinary words widely used by candidates. The judge rejected Cloobeck’s reliance on prior case law involving political organizations, distinguishing it from Villaraigosa’s role as an individual candidate.
USPTO Patent Review Proposal Sparks National Debate
Takeaway: The USPTO’s proposed rules to limit America Invents Act (AIA) post-grant patent reviews have sparked intense debate, with supporters citing predictability and reduced litigation, opponents warning they could block legitimate challenges and hinder innovation, highlighting the need to balance patent protection with accessible avenues to contest invalid patents.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rules to limit certain America Invents Act (AIA) post-grant patent reviews have drawn nearly 11,000 public comments, highlighting a sharp divide among stakeholders. Supporters, including patent owners and startup groups, say the rules would bring predictability, reduce duplicative challenges, and restore inter partes reviews as a streamlined alternative to costly litigation, helping inventors and investors commercialize innovations without repeated challenges.
Opponents caution the proposal could block legitimate challenges, exceed the USPTO’s authority, and undermine transparency. Tech companies, life sciences organizations, and legal associations warn that forcing petitioners to forgo invalidity arguments or barring reviews when related proceedings exist could make it nearly impossible to contest questionable patents, raising costs, slowing innovation, and affecting access to affordable drugs.
The debate highlights the tension between protecting patent holders and maintaining mechanisms to contest invalid patents. The USPTO has yet to respond. The proposal’s outcome could reshape post-grant reviews, affect innovation strategies, and influence the broader U.S. patent system for years to come.
Judge Rejects Surf Brand’s Bid to Block Lady Gaga’s Use of “Mayhem” Trademark
Takeaway: The court’s refusal to enjoin Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem” merchandise underscores that expressive works and related apparel are strongly protected under the Rogers test, making trademark injunctions difficult without clear evidence of consumer confusion.
A California federal judge denied Lost International LLC’s request for a preliminary injunction seeking to stop Lady Gaga from using the “Mayhem” mark on apparel sold in connection with her album of the same name, finding that the surf brand failed to show it was likely to succeed on its trademark infringement claims.
Judge Fernando Olguin ruled that Gaga’s use of the mark was artistically relevant and did not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source or content of the merchandise, emphasizing that Lost’s primary evidence of confusion was simply Gaga’s use of the word itself. Applying the Ninth Circuit’s Rogers test, the court held that the test extends not only to expressive works like albums, but also to related, revenue-generating promotional apparel, and concluded that Lost provided insufficient evidence that consumers would believe there was an association between the parties.
Author Files Class Action Against Adobe Over AI Training
Takeaway: Oregon author Elizabeth Lyon is filing a class-action lawsuit against Adobe over the use of copyrighted books in its SlimLM AI models, underscoring the rising legal and ethical challenges of using copyrighted works in AI development.
Oregon author Elizabeth Lyon has filed a proposed class action in California federal court, accusing Adobe of using copyrighted books without permission to train its artificial intelligence models. The lawsuit alleges that Adobe copied works from its SlimPajama dataset, which the company uses to train its SlimLM AI models integrated into Adobe document tools, without authorization. The SlimPajama dataset is derived from the controversial RedPajama dataset, a large-scale collection of text data used by multiple AI developers for model training. Lyon claims her books, along with other authors’ works, were included without consent, and she is seeking damages, attorney fees, and the destruction of infringing copies.
This case is the latest in a growing wave of litigation over AI training datasets, following similar lawsuits against Apple, Salesforce, and Snowflake. It highlights ongoing legal and ethical debates around copyright, AI development, and the use of large-scale text datasets in training language models.
Cislo & Thomas LLP Spotlight
Cislo & Thomas LLP Assumes Thomas Coester Intellectual Property and Welcomes Thomas M. Coester, Esq. as Of Counsel
Cislo & Thomas LLP is pleased to announce that, effective January 1, 2026, our firm will be assuming responsibility for the active intellectual property matters of Thomas Coester Intellectual Property following Thomas Coester, Esq.’s retirement from his practice. We are honored to continue serving TCIP clients and ensuring a smooth, uninterrupted transition of their intellectual property portfolios.
To further support continuity, Tom will be joining Cislo & Thomas in an Of Counsel role. Tom and our Managing Partner, Daniel Cislo, have enjoyed a successful professional relationship for many years, and his continued involvement will help ensure familiarity, consistency, and confidence during this transition. We congratulate Tom on the success of his practice and look forward to working alongside him as Of Counsel.
Cislo & Thomas LLP Celebrates the Holiday Season
Cislo & Thomas celebrated the end of 2025 with a festive holiday gingerbread decoration contest, followed by a luncheon at Boccaccio’s Restaurant in Westlake Village. It was a wonderful time of enjoying each others’ company over a delicious meal. To another great year ahead!
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