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SANTA FE, NM October 28, 2017 - Bardacke Allison lawyers recently won a complete judgment on the merits in favor of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd in a trademark proceeding before the US Trademark Trial & Appeal Board. The proceeding involved trademarks registered internationally as well as in the United States, and capped an eight-year legal battle.
SANTA FE, NM October 11, 2017 - The world premiere of Return to Rainy Mountain, a film about Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist N. Scott Momaday, will take place October 19, 2017 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe. Ben Allison assisted with development of the film. The film is airing as part of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, which runs from October 18-22 in Santa Fe.
SANTA FE, NM July 18, 2017 - Justin Miller has been newly promoted to partner at Bardacke Allison LLP. Justin received a dual degree in law and Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2005. He served as Governor Bill Richardson’s chief counsel, entered private practice in 2011, and joined Bardacke Allison LLP in 2015. Justin’s practice focuses on commercial litigation in the areas of consumer protection, employment, and intellectual property. He also continues to serve public entities, including as general counsel for the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange and as Chair of the City of Santa Fe Ethics and Campaign Review Board.
SANTA FE, NM June 7, 2017 - Starfall Education Foundation has successfully resolved trademark infringement occurring in a video game produced by Trion Worlds, Inc. Starfall is a nonprofit that has taught millions of children throughout the United States and the world to read using online phonics games and other materials. Starfall filed suit in federal court in Colorado to stop the misappropriation of its name STARFALL in Trion's commercial video game. Trion agreed to cease all use of the name STARFALL in its game and acknowledged Starfall’s trademark rights. Starfall Education Foundation had protected its name with multiple federal and international trademark registrations. Bardacke Allison LLP represented Starfall in the lawsuit along with co-counsel in Sydney, Australia and Denver.
SANTA FE, NM May 30, 2017 - Bardacke Allison LLP is pleased to have Victor Grafe as a summer associate. Victor is a second year law student at the University of Arizona Law School, where he is a member of the Arizona Law Review. He recently completed a judicial internship with the Honorable Philip Espinosa of the Arizona Court of Appeals and has worked with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. He is married to Maria Elena Bendlin de Grafe, of Paraguay, and they have one child. Before law school Victor attended seminary, did prison ministry, and played viola with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. He is fluent in Spanish and also plays the piano, violin, and guitar. His undergraduate degree is in music, summa cum laude, from Texas Tech University.
SANTA FE, NM April 28, 2017 - Bardacke Allison lawyers Paul Bardacke, Ben Allison, and Justin Miller recently filed a lawsuit against Laureate Education Inc. on behalf of several Santa Fe University of Art and Design students. The lawsuit alleges that in closing SFUAD, the for-profit university broke its contract with students and misled both incoming freshmen and returning students, causing significant harm. Paul Bardacke said, “It is clear that Laureate cares more about its bottom line than about its students.” Ben Allison was quoted in recent Santa Fe New Mexican and Albuquerque Journal stories on the lawsuit.
SANTA FE, NM April 27, 2017 - The City of Santa Fe’s Ethics and Campaign Review Board, chaired by Bardacke Allison’s Justin Miller, ruled on several complaints under the City’s Campaign Code as money pours into both sides of the campaign on the proposed soda tax. The Board reprimanded Pre K for Santa Fe for failing to disclose its identity in campaign materials, dismissed a complaint that would ask the Board to become the arbiter of truth in campaign communications, and reprimanded and ordered the Rio Grande Foundation to disclose expenditures and contributions in connection with a video it distributed in opposition to the tax. The Board will soon request public comment on a variety of questions to be answered in anticipation of the upcoming mayoral election.
SANTA FE, NM March 23, 2017 - Ben Allison assisted the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. in connection with Holmes and Watson, a comedy starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ralph Fiennes, and Hugh Laurie. The picture is being filmed in London for an expected release in 2018.
NEW YORK, NY February 15, 2017 - Bardacke Allison's Paul Bardacke and Breanna Houghton filed an appeal of the outcome of Holly Holm's UFC 208 Featherweight Title fight with the NY State Athletic Commission. The appeal states that Ms. Holm "seeks review of Referee Todd Anderson's failure to deduct one or more points from Germaine de Randamie following her repeated strikes thrown after the horn sounded to end Rounds 2 and 3."
SANTA FE, NM February 9, 2017 - Thursday’s Rio Grande Sun details the recent jury verdict won by Ben Allison and Justin Miller in favor of Bardacke Allison client Stella Vigil against Zia Credit Union. Headlined “Woman’s Bank Account Cleaned Out,” the article highlights Zia Credit Union’s use of inflated appraisals in its lending process, Zia’s culpability in making a bad loan to Stella’s daughter, and Zia’s failure to follow its own policy requiring Zia to warn Stella about the risk to her life savings. The Sun explains that the Rio Arriba County jury found the credit union liable on all counts, including that the credit union violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act. The Firm is awaiting a decision on a motion to triple the damages as a punitive measure to stop the credit union from treating other members the same way in the future.
SANTA FE, NM February 3, 2017 - Today's Albuquerque Journal describes the jury verdict in favor of Bardacke Allison client Stella Vigil in a jury trial last November and December. Ms. Vigil’s life savings were taken by her financial institution to pay a debt of Ms. Vigil's daughter—a debt Ms. Vigil had not co-signed or guaranteed and which she was not told about. The financial institution claimed it had the right to the money because it was in a joint account on which Ms. Vigil’s daughter was listed. Ms. Vigil prevailed on all nine counts against the financial institution, including conversion, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and willful violation of the Unfair Practices Act. The jury also returned a verdict of punitive damages in Ms. Vigil’s favor. Ben Allison and Justin Miller represented Stella Vigil at trial.
SANTA FE, NM December 2, 2016 - A Rio Arriba jury today returned a verdict in favor of the Firm’s client and against a financial institution on every claim in the case, including willful violation of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act. Ben Allison and Justin Miller tried the case, which began November 21, 2016. The jury agreed with them that the financial institution acted with reckless disregard of its customer’s rights, and awarded punitive damages in favor of the Firm’s client.
SANTA FE, NM November 1, 2016 - Bardacke Allison LLP is just over a year old and has already been named one of the area's best law firms for commercial litigation and mediation. The ranking, by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers, is based upon input from other leading lawyers and from clients. Partners Ben Allison and Paul Bardacke were also both listed in the 22nd edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
SANTA FE, NM October 7, 2016 - Ben Allison was quoted in a KRQE-TV story about the battle between Bad Ass Coffee Company and a new Santa Fe sandwich shop which took the Bad Ass name and a similar logo featuring a donkey.
Bardacke Allison LLP represents Bad Ass Coffee Company of Hawaii, Inc.
CAMBRIDGE, MA September 1, 2016 - A federal judge ruled last week that native art dealer Steve Elmore violated his contract with the Peabody Museum at Harvard University when he published more than 100 pictures of Peabody objects that he had been allowed to photograph for his research. The Court entered judgment ordering Mr. Elmore to pay the Museum $10,000.
“The Peabody brought the case after Elmore broke his contract by publishing research photographs in his book, and refused to discuss any correction or re-publication with appropriate photos and captions,” according to Ben Allison of Bardacke Allison LLP, the lawyer representing Harvard and the Museum. The Museum also objected that photograph captions in Elmore’s book did not identify the objects or meet Museum standards, and that the photography falsely conveyed the Museum’s approval, in violation of federal trademark law. “The federal judge had earlier ruled that Harvard was likely to prevail on its contract and trademark claims, and ordered a stop to any distribution of Elmore’s book,” Allison said.
Elmore made a variety of counterclaims in the lawsuit, alleging that Harvard had wrongfully declined his manuscript, was attempting to misappropriate his research, and was involved in a conspiracy against him. Based on these allegations Elmore claimed Harvard owed him millions of dollars. In separate rulings, the Federal Court analyzed Elmore’s allegations at length and concluded they were false, dismissing all of Elmore’s claims except a claim for $257 in travel reimbursement.
The day after the rulings were issued, the parties met and resolved the remaining issues in the case. The Museum forgave the $10,000 judgment and agreed to allow Elmore to sell a limited quantity of his book, provided that it carry the following statement:
The photographs attributed to the “Peabody Museum” or the “Keam Collection” were published without the Peabody’s permission or review, in violation of the author’s contractual obligations. Many of the images have been altered by photo-editing software. The Peabody does not verify that the images are accurate representations of the objects in its collections.
Similarly, photograph caption information was not reviewed or approved by the Peabody and does not meet Museum standards. The image on page 182 identified as a Peabody postcard is a screen shot from an old version of the Museum’s online database. This photograph was not approved for publication. The image in this book has been altered by the author to look like a historic postcard. The Peabody denies that any such postcard exists.
“The Peabody Museum has been committed to the study of native art from around the world, most notably the American Southwest, for more than a century,” Peabody Museum Director Jeffrey Quilter said. “We believe in open access for researchers, but also stand by the claim that photographs taken for research purposes should be used for just that: research. We are grateful that the court agreed with our position, enabling the important scholarship that takes place each day at the Museum to go forward.”
The case dates back to 2010 when the Peabody welcomed Elmore to research a volume on its Keam collection, which he believed contained ceramics created by famed potter Nampeyo. Elmore signed an agreement promising that any photographs he took would be for research purposes only and would not be published. The Museum also invited Elmore to submit a manuscript on his research. Ultimately, upon review, that manuscript did not meet the goals and standards of the Museum and its Press, and it was returned to him.
In 2014, Elmore published his manuscript with more than 100 of his research photographs in violation of his contract not to publish them. In addition, he copied 47 photographs from another Peabody Museum Press volume, Historic Hopi Ceramics (Peabody Museum Press, 1981), and doctored them to appear as drawings. The Museum considered this a violation of copyright in its photographs, but the Court held that Elmore changed the photographs enough so as not to infringe.
Neither Harvard nor the Museum claimed any ownership of the traditional designs of any of the peoples represented in its collections. This was clearly stated in Harvard Peabody’s first court filing: Harvard does not claim any copyright in the designs depicted in the photographs, but Harvard’s copyright in the Historic Hopi Ceramics photographs does protect the original photographic rendition of each artifact.
The Peabody Museum at Harvard University has collected, preserved, and supported the study of native art from around world since 1866. The Museum welcomes both academic researchers and artists to study materials in its collections. The Peabody has also published dozens of works highlighting the stunning artistic achievements of Native American peoples, including volumes such as Historic Hopi Ceramics, which has been used extensively by regional potters as a reference work.
Santa Fe New Mexican's article from Sunday, September 4, 2016.
SANTA FE, NM August 16, 2016 - Bardacke Allison LLP is pleased to announce that Paul Bardacke was selected for inclusion in the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Mediation. Ben Allison was also listed for Commercial Litigation and Copyright Law. The Best Lawyers lists are chosen are based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation system. Paul has been listed in every edition of The Best Lawyers in America since 1993. Ben Allison is also featured as a litigation star in Benchmark Litigation 2016.
SANTA FE, NM July 21, 2016 - Bardacke Allison LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has been awarded the contract to serve as legal counsel to the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. Justin Miller will serve as General Counsel to the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange under the contract. Justin has previously represented the Exchange and has a broad understanding of its objectives and goals. Bardacke Allison looks forward to helping the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange achieve its mission of making affordable health insurance available to all New Mexicans.
SANTA FE, NM July 20, 2016 - On July 28, 2016, Breanna Houghton of Bardacke Allison LLP joins the faculty of the 2016 Visual Arts & the Law Conference in Santa Fe. Breanna will present the conference’s first copyright session, "Copyright in the Art World: Selfies, Social Media, and Sharing." The conference is attended by art and museum professionals from around the country and is held at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe. It is approved for nationwide CLE credit. For more information and to register, visit the conference website: CLE International.
SANTA FE, NM June 24, 2016 - The firm's new offices are located on the second floor of the Coronado Building at 141 East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe. The Firm is honored to join its neighbors in the historic Coronado Building, located across the street from the Cathedral Basilica park. Built in 1810 the building served originally as a Santa Fe County Courthouse.
SANTA FE, NM January 15, 2016 - Ben Allison was quoted today in a Santa Fe New Mexican article in which he commented on the legality of an advertising campaign that parodies New Mexico’s tourism campaign New Mexico True.