John Halski
@johnhalski.bsky.social
Partner, Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC — Trademark attorney, vinyl collector, film + concert goer, part-time jogger. All posts are mine alone. he/him/his
Pinned
John Halski
@johnhalski.bsky.social
· Feb 12
“TRADEMARK” IS A NOUN NOT A VERB AND THAT’S A MEANINGFUL DISTINCTION! YOU ACQUIRE TRADEMARK RIGHTS BASED ON USE OF YOUR MARK WHETHER OR NOT YOU TAKE FORMAL LEGAL STEPS LIKE REGISTRATION “TO TRADEMARK” YOUR MARK! ALTHOUGH THERE ARE GOOD REASONS TO SEEK REGISTRATION, WHICH A LAWYER CAN EXPLAIN TO YOU!
Every journalist who reported on “deplorables” like it was the end of civility and the greatest political scandal of the century should either step up right now or shut up forever.
November 28, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Every journalist who reported on “deplorables” like it was the end of civility and the greatest political scandal of the century should either step up right now or shut up forever.
Reposted by John Halski
A president having a “policy of retribution” in and of itself should be an unthinkable scandal, and any media outlet that doesn’t treat it as such is normalizing it to the detriment of our country and our future.
November 28, 2025 at 4:43 AM
A president having a “policy of retribution” in and of itself should be an unthinkable scandal, and any media outlet that doesn’t treat it as such is normalizing it to the detriment of our country and our future.
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've seen
1. David Bowie/NIN
2. Public Enemy following Belle & Sebastian in Iceland
3. New Order
4. The Roots (both at the Apollo and at the Seattle zoo)
5. The Pizza Underground
1. David Bowie/NIN
2. Public Enemy following Belle & Sebastian in Iceland
3. New Order
4. The Roots (both at the Apollo and at the Seattle zoo)
5. The Pizza Underground
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've seen
Nirvana
Bob Dylan/Joni Mitchell/Van Morrison
Guns n Roses/Metallica
Hilary Hahn
Neko Case in a tiny bar in 1998
Nirvana
Bob Dylan/Joni Mitchell/Van Morrison
Guns n Roses/Metallica
Hilary Hahn
Neko Case in a tiny bar in 1998
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've seen
Courtney Barnett
Philip Glass
Gogol Bordello
Kraftwerk
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Courtney Barnett
Philip Glass
Gogol Bordello
Kraftwerk
Boston Symphony Orchestra
November 28, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've seen
1. David Bowie/NIN
2. Public Enemy following Belle & Sebastian in Iceland
3. New Order
4. The Roots (both at the Apollo and at the Seattle zoo)
5. The Pizza Underground
1. David Bowie/NIN
2. Public Enemy following Belle & Sebastian in Iceland
3. New Order
4. The Roots (both at the Apollo and at the Seattle zoo)
5. The Pizza Underground
Inside you there are two wolves.
I don’t think you understand how hard it is to explain to two very uninterested kids how important it is for mom and dad to see Long Island’s own Busta Rhymes perform with the Ninja Turtles at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
November 27, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Inside you there are two wolves.
Unironically, you would’ve been my favorite teacher after that 0.
I would’ve been mad at first, of course, but after I got over that …
I would’ve been mad at first, of course, but after I got over that …
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
November 26, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Unironically, you would’ve been my favorite teacher after that 0.
I would’ve been mad at first, of course, but after I got over that …
I would’ve been mad at first, of course, but after I got over that …
Reposted by John Halski
Randall Munroe created a beautiful thing today, and now I'm writing this with tears in my eyes. Thanks, @xkcd.com.
Fifteen Years
xkcd.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Randall Munroe created a beautiful thing today, and now I'm writing this with tears in my eyes. Thanks, @xkcd.com.
Pretty undeniable ranking. Respect.
November 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Pretty undeniable ranking. Respect.
🎶And one day, I am gonna grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless ... hysterical and
Let Down and hanging around🎶
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless ... hysterical and
Let Down and hanging around🎶
November 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
🎶And one day, I am gonna grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless ... hysterical and
Let Down and hanging around🎶
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless ... hysterical and
Let Down and hanging around🎶
Reposted by John Halski
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of WeRateDogs, let us remember one of the best Twitter exchanges of all time.
November 19, 2025 at 5:50 AM
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of WeRateDogs, let us remember one of the best Twitter exchanges of all time.
Reposted by John Halski
"Sir, did you just abuse and insult a journalist for asking a question? And did you publicly call a woman a piggie? Is this the way a U.S. President behaves?"
A reporter who so spoke loses WH credentials, maybe his job if his agency is gutless. But absent such, the entire WHPC is without honor.
A reporter who so spoke loses WH credentials, maybe his job if his agency is gutless. But absent such, the entire WHPC is without honor.
November 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"Sir, did you just abuse and insult a journalist for asking a question? And did you publicly call a woman a piggie? Is this the way a U.S. President behaves?"
A reporter who so spoke loses WH credentials, maybe his job if his agency is gutless. But absent such, the entire WHPC is without honor.
A reporter who so spoke loses WH credentials, maybe his job if his agency is gutless. But absent such, the entire WHPC is without honor.
No dessert that doesn’t actually contain chocolate should be allowed to look like it might or probably does.
November 20, 2025 at 7:28 PM
No dessert that doesn’t actually contain chocolate should be allowed to look like it might or probably does.
Reposted by John Halski
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
November 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
Federal Right of Publicity/Privacy when?
This is one of the worst, most horrifying exposures we have ever seen. It is hard to overstate how bad the things that people are using tools like for are, and it's insane to pretend like these tools are anything other than nonconsensual porn machines
www.404media.co/ai-porn-secr...
www.404media.co/ai-porn-secr...
Massive Leak Shows Erotic Chatbot Users Turned Women’s Yearbook Pictures Into AI Porn
Chatbot roleplay and image generator platform SecretDesires.ai left cloud storage containers of nearly two million of images and videos exposed, including photos and full names of women from social me...
www.404media.co
November 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Federal Right of Publicity/Privacy when?
Reposted by John Halski
SDNY just held that AI “substitutive summaries” — non-verbatim outputs that mirror a story’s expressive structure and journalistic choices — may plausibly infringe copyright. Big case for AI + news. Full story on Copyright Lately:
copyrightlately.com/court-rules-...
copyrightlately.com/court-rules-...
Court Rules AI News Summaries May Infringe Copyright
News publishers just cleared a key hurdle against Cohere in a copyright fight over AI-generated "substitutive summaries" of their reporting.
copyrightlately.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:09 AM
SDNY just held that AI “substitutive summaries” — non-verbatim outputs that mirror a story’s expressive structure and journalistic choices — may plausibly infringe copyright. Big case for AI + news. Full story on Copyright Lately:
copyrightlately.com/court-rules-...
copyrightlately.com/court-rules-...
Reposted by John Halski
March 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
If you want a picture of the future, Winston, imagine an Oreo stuffed inside of another Oreo, stuffed inside another Oreo—forever.
oh wow that’s crazy
oreos with bits of
of oreos. in them
Real Bits of Oreos
oreos with bits of
of oreos. in them
Real Bits of Oreos
November 13, 2025 at 10:16 PM
If you want a picture of the future, Winston, imagine an Oreo stuffed inside of another Oreo, stuffed inside another Oreo—forever.
November 10, 2025 at 5:07 PM
If the GOP decides to go all in on Trump’s “private health insurance is a scam that provides substandard healthcare” attack, it’ll be wild if they end up stumbling backwards into endorsing a single payer system.
Horseshoe Theory at its finest.
Horseshoe Theory at its finest.
November 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
If the GOP decides to go all in on Trump’s “private health insurance is a scam that provides substandard healthcare” attack, it’ll be wild if they end up stumbling backwards into endorsing a single payer system.
Horseshoe Theory at its finest.
Horseshoe Theory at its finest.
Reposted by John Halski
5 years ago today
November 7, 2025 at 9:36 PM
5 years ago today
Whatever your politics or your take on the case, it would be legitimately funny if there was a huge spike in Subway sales today.
November 6, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Whatever your politics or your take on the case, it would be legitimately funny if there was a huge spike in Subway sales today.
Don’t mind me, I’ll just be searching the USPTO trademark database every few days to see if someone does the inevitable….
This is the "felony footlong" patch that the defense displayed in closing arguments in the sandwich guy trial, but it was never introduced in evidence, so jurors were told to disregard.
November 5, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Don’t mind me, I’ll just be searching the USPTO trademark database every few days to see if someone does the inevitable….
I know this probably sounds frivolous, and maybe it’s the trademark attorney in me speaking, but I really do believe that something important and ultimately tragic happened when we as a nation just let Republicans misname their opponents “the Democrat Party” as a playground dig without correction.
November 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I know this probably sounds frivolous, and maybe it’s the trademark attorney in me speaking, but I really do believe that something important and ultimately tragic happened when we as a nation just let Republicans misname their opponents “the Democrat Party” as a playground dig without correction.