The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board’s recent ruling in In re Productos Verde Valle, S.A. de C.V. upholding a trademark examiner’s refusal to register the mark SONIA for “sauces; chili sauce; hot sauce” holds a lesson for those of us that regularly advise clients on the registrability (and usability) of trademarks. Assuming Verde Valle conducted… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Trademark Law
Subscribe to Trademark Law RSS FeedTrademark Registration and the Presumption of Secondary Meaning
Posted in IP, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark LawThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was recently tasked with reviewing determinations made by the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) relating to trade infringement claims brought by Converse, Inc. with regard to a number of imported shoes that it alleged infringed on one of its trademarks. Although Converse sneakers have had largely the… Continue Reading
Procter & Gamble Seeks to Register Text Message Lingo Such as LOL and WTF
Posted in IP, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark LawProcter & Gamble, the international consumer packaged goods conglomerate, recently filed a slew of trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, seeking to register WTF, LOL, FML, and NBD for use in conjunction with certain consumer goods. Now, I suspect most of you are familiar with these acronyms, but if you aren’t,… Continue Reading
“Honey Badger Don’t Care”: The Rogers test and Trademark Infringement
Posted in IP, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark LawChristopher Gordon is a comedian who created a viral video about the honey badger with the notable catch phrase, “Honey Badger Don’t Care,” among others. He later trademarked that phrase and sued greeting card companies for trademark infringement for using that phrase, or a variation thereof, without his permission. As a result, the Ninth Circuit… Continue Reading
The Process: Who Does it Really Belong to?
Posted in IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark LawA few years ago, before the 76ers returned to playoff glory, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers’ ownership and front office began utilizing the phrase “Trust the Process” to represent their journey back to the top. Finally, after years of absolutely horrendous basketball, which enabled the 76ers to draft stars such as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons,… Continue Reading
Three-Stripes and the Burden of Irreparable Injury
Posted in IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark Lawadidas and Skechers are athletic shoe and apparel manufacturers who have a long history of litigation between them arising out of claims that Skechers has repeatedly infringed upon adidas’ trademarks. In Adidas America, Inc. v. Skechers USA, Inc. (decided May 10, 2018), the Ninth Circuit once again had to weigh in on Skechers’ alleged infringement… Continue Reading
LegalZoom Allegedly Engages in the Unauthorized Practice of Trademark Law
Posted in IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, Trademark LawAccording to a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by California law firm LegalForce RAPC Worldwide, LegalZoom engages in the unauthorized practice of law when its non-attorneys instruct customers on how to register trademarks. The lawsuit names various other defendants, including the Patent and Trademark Office and… Continue Reading
Stone Brewing Fires the Shot Heard Round the Brewing World
Posted in Patent Law, Trademark LawThe fight between craft brewers and Big Beer (i.e. MillerCoors & Budweiser) has been ongoing for years. Ever since craft beer came to prominence in the late ‘90s, it has been stealing Big Beer’s share of the marketplace. In fact, craft beer has celebrated double-digit growth each year since then. In response, Big Beer has… Continue Reading
Ruling in Lawsuit Over Fox’s Use of “Empire” Extends Permitted Use of Third-Party Trademarks
Posted in Trademark LawBy Scott Hervey Did you ever wonder why some movies use fictional names for companies or sports teams? TV and movie producers intentionally avoid using brand or company names in order to avoid any potential of an entanglement with a trademark owner. Some studio lawyers insist that no third-party brands may be used under any… Continue Reading
With a great trademark comes great responsibility: San Diego Comic-Con v. Salt Lake Comic Con
Posted in Trademark LawAuthor: David Baker Earlier this month, a jury in San Diego federal court was asked to decide if the use of the trademark “COMIC CON” by Daniel Farr, Bryan Brandenburg, and Dan Farr Productions for a comic book convention held in Salt Lake City constituted an infringement of the trademark “COMIC-CON” (note the distinguishing hyphen)… Continue Reading
Wine and Spirits Are not Always Confusingly Similar
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawBrand litigation can be extreme in the consumer products space and even more so for alcoholic beverages (legal cannabis brand owners take note and start stockpiling your war chest). It’s not uncommon for litigation to arise whenever an alcoholic beverage brand owner believes that another alcoholic beverage brand infringes. Such was the case for… Continue Reading
Patent Myths Corrected – Part Two
Posted in Copyright Law, Trademark LawMy last column was the first of two columns discussing some of the most common misconceptions or myths about patents. Here is the second part, starting with number five on my list. A Patent Does Not Give the Patent Owner the Right to Practice the Invention. Inventors and patent owners often assume that a patent… Continue Reading
California Finally Rolling Out Its Own Cannabis Trademark Laws
Posted in Legal Info, Patent Law, Trademark LawCalifornia was the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use. In 1996, California approved Proposition 215, the California Compassionate Use Act. Two decades later, California voters approved Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA). Despite the fact that cannabis has been legal in California since 1996, you still… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Holds that “Reverse Confusion” Need Not Be Pled with Specificity
Posted in Trademark LawA plaintiff seeking to prevail on a trademark infringement claim needs to establish that there is some likelihood of confusion between its mark and that of the defendant. Generally, a plaintiff establishes that there is “forward” confusion by showing that customers believed they were doing business with plaintiff but because of a confusion in their… Continue Reading
Repeated Discovery Failures and Abusive Litigation Tactics Warrant Terminating Sanctions, Treble Damages, Attorney Fees and Permanent Injunction Against Defendant In Patent Litigation Case.
Posted in Trademark LawBy: Eric Caligiuri In TASER International, Inc. v. PhaZZer Electronics, Inc. et al, 6-16-cv-00366 (FLMD July 21, 2017, Order), a Florida District Court took the drastic step of entering a default judgment in favor of Plaintiff Taser, along with an award of compensatory and treble damages, an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and… Continue Reading
Amazon Tips its Hand with New Trademark Application
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawAs you likely know, Amazon is taking the world by storm. Whether it is through its convenient offering of household goods, and pretty much anything else you can imagine, to your door, or through its expansive selection of movies and television shows provided through its Amazon Prime streaming service, Amazon is a major player in… Continue Reading
Offensive Trademarks Are Protected Free Speech Under the First Amendment
Posted in Trademark LawSimon Tam is the lead singer of the rock group call “The Slants’, which is composed of Asian-Americans. Tam applied for federal trademark registration of the band’s name. While the term “slants” is a derogatory term for persons of Asian descent, Tam adopted the name “to ‘reclaim’ and ‘take ownership’ of stereotypes about people of… Continue Reading
When is Making a Movie Not an Act of Free Speech?
Posted in Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, Legal Info, Trademark LawI admit that the title of this article may be a bit deceiving. Making films, like any other production of art, is almost always an act of free speech. However, the Ninth Circuit was recently faced with a dilemma of determining this issue in connection with an anti-SLAPP motion brought against a screen writer who… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Cuts Back Patent Owners’ Post-Sale Rights
Posted in Patent Law, Trademark LawPatent owners can no longer restrict the use of their patented products after the products are sold. Under the doctrine of patent exhaustion, a patent owner’s rights are “exhausted” once the patent owner sells the product. In Impression Products v. Lexmark International, Inc., 2017 U.S. LEXIS 3397 (May 30, 2017), the Supreme Court expanded the… Continue Reading
Eagles Ltd. v. Hotel California Baja, LLC: Any Time of Year, You Can Find Infringement Here
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawRecently, Eagles Ltd. (the “Eagles”), the entity in control of legendary rock band The Eagles’ business affairs, filed a lawsuit against Hotel California Baja, LLC for trademark infringement. While I’m sure most of us are familiar with the Eagles’ song Hotel California, it may come as a surprise to most trademark aficionados that the Eagles… Continue Reading
Googling Google
Posted in Copyright Law, Cyberspace Law, Trademark Law, Web/Tech“I googled it …” has become ubiquitous in every day conversation. Many of us refer to “googling” as the act of searching the internet regardless of whether we use the Google search engine to do so. But has our everyday use of the verb “googling” rendered the Google trademark unprotectable? “Nope,” said the Ninth Circuit… Continue Reading
Is Marilyn Monroe Too Generic to Be Registered as a Trademark?
Posted in Trademark LawI’ve written on numerous occasions in the past about celebrities who registered their own names as trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Just the other week, I wrote about how UFC superstar Conor McGregor had filed an application to register his name as a trademark, and in that same article, I mentioned… Continue Reading
Tavern on the Green Trademark Battle Round #2
Posted in Trademark LawThe City of New York has reignited the battle over the trademark TAVERN ON THE GREEN. Last month the City of New York filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against Tavern on the Green International LLC, the successor-in-interest to Tavern on the Green operator, LeRoy Adventures, Inc. LeRoy Adventures operated Tavern on the Green from… Continue Reading
McGregor Files for Trademark for “Conor McGregor” and “The Notorious”
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawWhether you like him or not, Conor McGregor’s business savvy cannot be disputed. The UFC superstar, in just over year, has become a household name known to people who may not even watch the sport. His quick rise to superstardom is no coincidence. He knows how to market himself and he knows how to sell… Continue Reading
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