It didn’t take long for the lawsuits to start after Sony notified 77 million PlayStation Network and Qriocity online service customers that their credit-card data, billing addresses, and other personal information might have been stolen. On April 27th, Johns v. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: April 2011
USPTO Issues Report to Congress on Trademark Litigation Tactics (f/k/a/ “Trademark Bullying”)
Posted in Infringement, Trademarks, TTABHat tip to Jack Clifford for providing a copy of the USPTO’s April 27, 2011 Report to Congress, pdf is here. I’ll be certain to circle back with you for another good "trademark bullying" discussion after digesting it.
A Discussion on Bullying, and Not of the Trademark Kind
Posted in MarketingThere’s been a lot of talk on DuetsBlog about trademark bullies. Some of this may apply, but I’m talking about the bullies that leave uncalled-for comments and “intrude” on your social space. The consensus, more often than not, is that as a business, you must reply (in hopes that you can display your ability to… Continue Reading
Duck Duct Debate
Posted in BrandingEvery once in awhile I run across a product and find myself wondering… why did they name it this? I recently ran across the Duck Tape brand shown below. My first reaction was “duck” is a commonly misused term to identify what should be called “duct” tape, and this brand owner interestingly chose to… Continue Reading
The ‘Sheen’ is off Charlie
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Randall Hull, The Br@nd Ranch® Charlie Sheen, aka “F-18”, “Warlock”, “Torpedo of Truth” — oh please — is instructive to anyone pondering the vicissitudes of brands, particularly celebrities as brands. Unless you have been off planet Earth for the last year, you have surely watched the not-so-slow train wreck called Charlie Sheen. Once a $1.8… Continue Reading
TryMe? Trademark or Informational Matter?
Posted in Branding, Fair Use, Food, Guest Bloggers, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks, TTABI’d venture to say that virtually every product sitting on a store shelf is crying out "try me" — some more colorfully than others, some more subtly than others, some more creatively than others, some more persuasively than others. However, most don’t just some out and say the words. Assuming that to be the case, is… Continue Reading
Good Name, Bad Name? It Depends.
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlashSM Name Development There is a local furniture store in Pittsburgh called Colonial Modern Furniture. Its slogan is “It’s Colonial. It’s Modern. And everything in between.” This demonstrates one of the biggest mistakes people make in picking a name—developing a name that tries to speak to everyone. I’m sorry, but apart from… Continue Reading
iPhone-y Baloney
Posted in Law SuitsOn April 15, Apple launched a massive suit against Samsung alleging various counts of patent and trademark infringement arising from Samsung’s Galaxy line of products. (The Complaint is here.) While the lawsuit involved claims of trade dress infringement and patent infringement, I was most interested in the trade dress aspects of the case. Of particular interest to… Continue Reading
The Designer of Everyone’s Favorite Red Heeled Shoes Sues to Protect His Empire
Posted in Famous Marks, Law Suits, TrademarksFrench designer Christian Louboutin is one of the most exciting high fashion shoe designers in the world. Initially, he developed his now famous trademarked Red Sole Mark shoes. by merely using red nail polish on the bottom of a shoe nineteen years ago. In August 2006, he registered the mark described as “The color(s) red is/are claimed… Continue Reading
FUSE: Sharing Extraordinary Experiences
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Aaron Keller, Principal, Capsule We partook in the sharing and enjoyed the conversations. The FUSE Conference, is not about splintering. It also isn’t about specialization or close-minded thinking. FUSE is about the disciplines of design, marketing, brand and research being brought together in a way that makes for a more engaged consumer, audience or customer…. Continue Reading
Some Trademarks Die Hard, Some Are Just Numb
Posted in Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksLikelihood of confusion? Likelihood of dilution? Blurring? Tarnishment? All to the left? To closely examine Sears’ most recent trademark infringement and dilution law suit and complaint concerning the DIEHARD brand against the maker of DieHard Spray ("a numbing agent for male genitalia"), check out Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Rockhard Laboratories, Inc., venued in the Northern District… Continue Reading
Trademark Bully Baloney?
Posted in Branding, TrademarksIn the wake of all the discussion and debate over "trademark bullying," NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses), the self-proclaimed Voice of Small Business, recently offered its members and followers "5 Steps to Avoid Corporate Trademark Bullying": Do Your Homework; Choose a Descriptive Business Name; Use Common Sense; Consider Buying Intellectual Property Insurance; and When in Doubt,… Continue Reading
Think Harder Concrete Campaign Targets Soft Competition
Posted in Advertising, Domain Names, MarketingBut for seeing a billboard last week like the banner below, it would never have occurred to me that cement producers really needed to advertise, but the Portland Cement Association has impeccable timing, as it is pothole season in Minnesota, and billboards like this are up all around the pothole-ridden Twin Cities. The campaign takes… Continue Reading
A Refresher on Headlines and Attitude, Important for Grabbing and Keeping Attention from Your Audience
Posted in MarketingHaving few characters to convey an idea or thought isn’t just for Twitter. I was reminded of this last week during the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference. Feeling energized after talking shop with colleagues for three days, I struggled with what to include in my upcoming blog post. My fellow marketers have already posted many… Continue Reading
Social Media Enlightenment
Posted in Social NetworkingThe Royal Wedding is only days away, Sharon and I have both blogged about it recently, and the Royal Family is certainly recieving a lot of media attention. For a family and political tradition that Americans often view as stuck in the past, the Royal Family has indisputably been embracing new forms of social… Continue Reading
lower case branding & visual identity
Posted in BrandingJust so you know, it about pushed me over the edge to have a blog post title with no capitalization. Not even one letter. In other words, all minuscules, no majuscules. It doesn’t seem right – to me anyway, as a trademark type. Just like the first letter in the first word of a sentence must be a… Continue Reading
Ex-Husker QB Leads Offense Against EA Sports
Posted in Fair Use, First Amendment, Guest Bloggers, Law Suits, Marketing—By Joey Lomicky, Communications Consultant, Xcel Energy As a Nebraska alum, former (okay, okay, current) sports gaming addict and First Amendment connoisseur, I’ve been intrigued by the high-profile class action lawsuit filed by ex-Cornhusker quarterback Sam Keller, which has recently resurfaced in the news. In fact, there’s a good chance this case may find its… Continue Reading
Masters’ Marks II: The Green Jacket
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, TrademarksIt is Masters time again. See my post from last year if you think that this has something to do with graduate degrees. Last year, I listed a number of marks of the Masters Tournament, including the Green Jacket. Hard core trademark types will be interested to learn that last December, Augusta National, Inc. filed… Continue Reading
Numbers for Thought & The “Trademark Bully” Debate
Posted in Trademarks, TTAB"Trademark law is a complex, specialized area of law," according to the International Trademark Association (INTA), as set forth in a recent communication to the USPTO. So, I must ask, does substantial experience or the lack of substantial experience in handling trademark matters impact the current trademark bullying debate? And, if so, how? Here are some interesting numbers… Continue Reading
You’re Cordially Invited…
Posted in Branding…to be one of an estimated 2 billion people watching one of the biggest branding/rebranding projects in the world: the Royal Wedding (and everything that leads up to it). As if wedding jitters and the co-opting of their names aren’t enough to deal with, Kate Middleton and Prince William, both of whom are still in… Continue Reading
Fellow Zealots:
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Domain Names, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Social Networking, Trademarks—Karl Schweikart, partner and co-creative director, 45 Degrees/Minneapolis It’s validating to discover that branding is not a topic just for designers to geek on. As a partner in a design firm focused on brand identity work, I find the community Duets has pulled together to be a vibrant and informative group to hang with. I… Continue Reading
A Red (& White) Letter Day for Branding
Posted in BrandingWe’ve noticed and commented on a variety of branding techniques and trends over the past couple of years: Less formal brand names; Single letter brands; Non-verbal logos; Verbing of brands; Dan saw lots of blue ovals; Question mark brands; Touchmarks; Emoticon brands and trademarks; Single color brands; Lightning bolt branding; My branding; and Back to the basics branding…. Continue Reading
Losing the L-Word
Posted in Advertising, Almost Advice, Branding, Guest Bloggers, International, MarketingOkay, nobody wants to be a "loser," unless, of course, you happen to be the biggest one, but that’s beside the point, because that’s not the L-word I’m talking about today. No, I’m talking about a much more traditionally positive L-word, as in "leader," but as I learned earlier this week, at an excellent breakfast seminar hosted at Padilla Speer Beardsley (PSB) headquarters in Minneapolis, entitled… Continue Reading
Subscribe
Add this blog to your feeds or enter your email in the box below and hit GO to subscribe by email.
Duets Blog Authors
Steve Baird
Just so you know, I'm all about brands and the law, both professionally and personally. I regularly annoy family and friends in retail stores by focusing on product labels—not to buy the product, but to read the fine print and ask, "Who owns these brands" and "Did they really register those marks?" More...
Dan Kelly
You can call me a “non-traditional” attorney, which is a polite way of saying that I did not attend law school straight out of college. I spent five of my first six years after college as a junior high school teacher. The other year I worked as an engineer for a large corporation. More...
Sharon Armstrong
Voted most likely to become an actress while in pre-school, I don’t think I surprised anyone by becoming a lawyer, the steadiest professional gig open to those with a flair for the dramatic. More...
Brent Lorentz
Although I wish I could say my path to the law was the result of a lifelong dream or calling, it was more the result mere curiosity and an affinity for leather-bound books. More...
Catlan McCurdy
Having long been told by my parents that I could do or be anything I wanted, I chose at the age of 10 to become an attorney, as it was the career that would most likely lead me to my goal of becoming the first woman POTUS.More...
Tiffany Blofield
Although my initial career path was to be one of the Supremes (not the musically talented ones with platform shoes and sequins, but rather, the nine wearing sensible shoes and pressed black robes in DC), I will likely stay in Minnesota as I have never lived anywhere else. More...
Brad Walz
My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). More...
Susan Perera
Born into the world with an aptitude for science and an affinity for art I found my career path quickly chosen for me. More...
Derek Allen
In hindsight, writing about creativity and the law may have always been in the cards for me. I began training for a career in litigation at an early age by finding ways to disagree with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. In my longest-running “case,” I argued with my middle school math teacher, Mrs. Jabs, for the better part of four years over whether, even if I got the right answer, I had to show my work to get full credit. More...
Laura Gutierrez
An attorney I am not. Though told to become one, I don't possess those qualities needed to be an effective one (I lack confrontation skills, and although I can write a great argumentative essay, I can’t argue outside a sheet of paper). More...