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Category Archives: Food

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This Mac Needs a Knife Too

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Marketing, Trademarks, Truncation, USPTO

Louis Armstrong first performed “Mack the Knife” in 1956, a year later McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac, and then, Bobby Darin’s version of ”Mack the Knife” became a chart-topper in 1959. So, these events were all before my time, but I’m left wondering if there was any connection between them, back in the day, or whether they were an unrelated coincidence… Continue Reading

Tie Goes to the Brand or Generic Name?

By on Posted in Articles, Branding, Food, Genericide, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks, TTAB, USPTO

Boys baseball occupied a fair portion of my evenings last week and this past weekend, a game where almost everyone has at least heard: The tie goes to the runner (when it comes to running the bases anyway – because when it comes to the final score the game continues until someone wins, even if it takes twenty… Continue Reading

Are You Famous Enough?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademarks

If you are Samuel R. Mott, founder of Mott’s LLP, apparently the answer is no.  Mott’s LLP filed applications to register “MOTT’S” for “baby foods” and “packaged combinations consisting of fresh fruit.”  (Serial Nos. 85/374,805 & 85/436,615) The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) refused to register the marks set forth in these applications… Continue Reading

Happiness is a Federally-Registered Mark

By on Posted in Famous Marks, Food, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademarks, USPTO

It should be no surprise that the famous Coca-Cola brand name is federally-registered. One of the many significant benefits of federal registration is the USPTO’s obligation to refuse registration of third party marks that are likely to confuse — most importantly, without the prompting or involvement of the prior trademark registrant. No doubt Coca-Cola will… Continue Reading

Another Nominative Fair Use Example?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Fair Use, Food, Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Trademarks

Twitter seems to be going strong, despite early questions about whether it would ever shed the notion of being a waste of time, as evidenced by this currently running billboard ad: To the extent this billboard looks familiar (admittedly a more diminutive glass here), you might recall my questions about it three years ago: Marketing Nirvana… Continue Reading

Nutty News: Dear Biggest Fan, Here’s a Cease-and-Desist Letter

By on Posted in Almost Advice, Branding, Domain Names, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Food, Social Media, Squirrelly Thoughts, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

You have to be one big fan of a company or product to establish a World {What-You-Cannot-Live-Without} Day.  Well, a sticky situation with the well-known hazelnut spread Nutella may have you rethinking your public affection. Back in 2007, Sarah Rosso (Nutella Fan) established World Nutella Day to celebrate her affection for Nutella.  Within the past… Continue Reading

The Most Famous Bottle Design, Forever?

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

Coca-Cola settled on its famous contour bottle design almost 100 years ago, in 1916, after several years of trials with other far less distinctive shapes (at least under today’s standards): Federal trademark registration data confirms the first use date to be July 8, 1916. The description of the contour bottle design mark in 1960 was: “The… Continue Reading

Caribou Coffee’s Announcement and Handling of Closing Stores

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Guest Bloggers

- Susan Hopp and Karl Schweikart, 45 Degrees/Minneapolis With all the brouhaha in the news lately, let’s just touch the tip of the iceberg with a few observations about branding. First of all, let me remind you that branding is all about managing customers’ expectations, building brand awareness and enhancing relationships to increase loyalty with… Continue Reading

A New Generation of Storytelling: Getting a Grip on The New Pepsi Bottle Design

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Trademarks

The importance of “storytelling” seems to be the buzzword lately when it comes to branding communications and decisions. For example, last August Branding Strategy Insider wrote that “Brands Must Master the Art of Storytelling,” and just last week it wrote twice on the subject, about “Shared Values in Brand Storytelling” and “5 Pillars for Brand Storytelling Success.”… Continue Reading

Who Needs Hostess Anyway?

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Marketing, Trademarks

When you can have Little Debbie snack cakes instead: Actually, recent news reports indicate that Little Debbie soon will be facing competition again from the new owner purchasing the Hostess brands in bankruptcy for $ 410 million. With all the talk about Oz the Great and Powerful, I can’t help singing: “Ding dong, the Hostess… Continue Reading

Sheetz Flushing Subway’s Footlong TM Hope?

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks, TTAB, USPTO

It has been almost six months since oral argument before the TTAB over the question of whether the word “footlong” is a trademark or a generic name for a type of sandwich. What type of sandwich you ask? One about twice as long as a six inch sandwich, let’s say about twelve inches in length, making it, oh, about a foot long. Needless… Continue Reading

Hey Brand, Shh!: Is De-Branding the Next Hip Design Trend?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Patents, Product Configurations, Product Packaging, Trademarks

A couple months ago, Selfridges, a high-end department store based in London, launched a “No Noise” campaign.  The initiative seems rooted in the company’s history; its original store featured a “Silence Room” to allow shoppers an empty area to relax from the stimulating hustle & bustle of the retail experience.  From the site:  “As we… Continue Reading

McDonald’s Trade Dress? State Farm is There.

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

Passing by a roadside billboard recently (below is a miniature version I found in the Minneapolis skyway system), my first thought was, wow, McDonald’s is getting into the juicy lucy business: Until more focus revealed that State Farm Insurance is the one behind the ad. Look familiar? No doubt burgers and car insurance are totally different lines of business and… Continue Reading

7G Wireless: The Next Big Thing?

By on Posted in Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Patents, Product Configurations, Taste, Technology, Trademarks

- Brent Carlson-Lee In the past six months, I have applied for a design patent and two trademarks – all food related. When I mention this, a common response is: “I wish I were creative or knowledgeable enough to come up with an idea worthy of patenting or trademarking.” My answer is invariably: “You are!”… Continue Reading

The Not-So-Happy Place of Genericness

By on Posted in Articles, Food, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks

Restaurant trade dress is possible to own when the claimed trade dress is distinctive and non-functional, think Taco Cabana. Restaurant trade dress can be so unique in the marketplace that distinctiveness is presumed with a finding of inherent distinctiveness. When not so obviously unique, distinctiveness also can be established with the more difficult proof of secondary meaning. Remember 1992? The… Continue Reading

Super (Bowl) Sunday, Ads Coming Soon

By on Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Fair Use, Food, Marketing, Trademarks

Looks like the V Bar at The Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, is having some sort of function on “Super Sunday” – February 3rd (that date sounds familiar): Here’s a question for those responsible for clearing the ad shown above: Why bother with attempting to invite imagination (especially when the visual aspects require none) by using constrained… Continue Reading

Pepsi, No Coke: Branding Nonsense at Work?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Marketing

Irony is something I enjoy capturing, as you already know, especially when it comes to branding. Take this recent image from my favorite hot dog joint in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Yesterdog: Note the vintage Drink Coca-Cola signage on the wall, directly behind the modern soft drink fountain, delivering only Pepsi products, to my great disappointment. Now,… Continue Reading

Spicy Trademarks Warm Up Minneapolis

By on Posted in Food, Trademarks

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney Wintertime in Minneapolis means a number of things for working professionals downtown. It means we have to start driving to work instead of bicycling, we wear Sorel boots and switch out for professional shoes at the office, and we eat almost exclusively at restaurants connected via skyway. For those of you who… Continue Reading

The Soft Underbelly of Turtles Candy: Is the U.S. Trademark at Risk of Genericide?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Genericide, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks

It has been a while since we’ve added another page to the Genericide Watch, so a little trip to Candyland, the Twin Cities’ local iconic and old fashioned candy shop, didn’t disappoint: I suppose that Candyland’s ”Mock Turtles” sign is meant to communicate that it isn’t actually selling authentic Turtles brand pecan/caramel/chocolate candy from DeMet’s Candy Company. But, what does that imply about the Cashew Turtles, Pecan… Continue Reading

Inherently Distinctive Restaurant Interior?

By on Posted in Branding, Domain Names, Food, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

We recently focused our attention on a very unique-looking, dare I say distinctive, retail store exterior design; for a quick reminder, see here. The recent craze for self-serve frozen yogurt shops – where you pay by the ounce (or perhaps, by the pound), has us focused today on a pretty darn unique interior retail environment: This is… Continue Reading

Bits and Pieces of Brands = Trademarks

By on Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, Product Packaging, Trademarks, Truncation, USPTO

  D + What = Diet Coke? Let’s file this brand truncation example under the AlphaWatch category, even though there is some other stuff going on here too. The rendition of the distinctive Diet Coke soft drink can to the left really popped for me, at the point of sale, positioned on a shelf behind the clear-glass door of… Continue Reading