We’ve written quite a bit over the last three years about the important topic of trademark enforcement. As you may have gathered from past writings, I’m one who believes the academic community’s concentration on the supposed evil of trademark demand letters is overblown. And, as you may recall, I’m not a fan of simply ignoring… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Cease and Desist Letter
Minnesota’s Legislative Answer to “Trademark Bullying”?
Posted in Infringement, Law Suits, TrademarksMinnesota State Representative Joyce Peppin, is convinced that “trademark bullying” is a problem and that it requires a brand new law in Minnesota to properly deal with it. Representative Peppin apparently is a law student at William Mitchell College of Law, and she has teamed up with other students and William Mitchell law faculty to write and… Continue Reading
When Silence is Not Very Golden
Posted in Almost Advice, Infringement, TrademarksWhile it is true that not responding to a trademark cease and desist letter is always an available option, I tend to believe it is rarely a good choice. The strategy of silence seldom makes the issue go away, it often ends up costing the recipient more money to resolve the issue, and it is… Continue Reading
Baird on Branding & Trademarks
Posted in Advertising, Almost Advice, Branding, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksThere aren’t too many things I enjoy more than speaking about the legal implications of branding. Our friends at BlackCoffee captured a talk I gave to a group of marketing types a while back, on black and white film (thank goodness), and they have graciously posted a 34 minute excerpt, here. Some of the topics I… Continue Reading
False Start? Riedell v. Adidas
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Law Suits, TrademarksLast month there was some press about a pair of trademark infringement lawsuits between Adidas (sorry marketing types, I just can’t do the lower case letter "a" in "adidas") and Riedell over the number of stripes appearing on their sports footwear products. You may recall, while we’re on the subject of stripes, that I previously… Continue Reading
Does Size Matter, When Identifying a “Trademark Bully”?
Posted in Counterfeits, Infringement, Law Suits, TrademarksWho says that being a large corporate trademark owner is one of the prerequisites to earning the emotionally-charged, pejorative, and ill-defined label "trademark bully"? Well, the original directive to the USPTO appears to assume that "trademark bullying" is a one-way street, disfavoring only large corporate trademark owners, and ignoring the possibility that individuals and small businesses are equally capable of deserving… Continue Reading
USPTO Extends Comment Period on “Trademark Bully” Survey
Posted in Infringement, Trademarks, TTABLast October, as you may recall, I wrote this in a post entitled "The Mark of a Real Trademark Bully": [T]he U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is currently seeking information about various litigation tactics, including whether "you think trademark “bullies” are currently a problem for trademark owners, and if so, how significant is the problem?" If you have… Continue Reading
Facebook Needs Dislike Option for Lamebook
Posted in First Amendment, Infringement, Law Suits, Social NetworkingLike most 20-somethings who went to college during the rise of this social media monster, I am quite familiar with Facebook. However, I wasn’t aware of the website Lamebook until the current legal dispute began. Lamebook, a self-proclaimed, “humor blog” was designed to allow people to share the most “ridiculous” things posted on Facebook. The Lamebook website is… Continue Reading
Ringy Dingy: A Handy PR Tool for Trademark Lawyers
Posted in Mixed Bag of NutsYears ago I recall hearing a veteran trademark lawyer warn intellectual property continuing legal education attendees, "When your toolbox only has a hammer in it, everything in your world starts to look like a nail." Fair enough. It’s time for all of us to revisit the contents of our professional toolbox. Last week, following the firestorm of criticism surrounding Best Buy’s cease and desist… Continue Reading
Thoughts on the God Squad Matter
Posted in Branding, Dilution, Goodwill, InfringementBy now, I assume that our readership is familiar with the "God Squad" story of this week’s news cycle. If not, the executive summary is that Best Buy recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to a priest in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin requesting that he cease using a logo on his black Volkswagen Beetle that says… Continue Reading
Power to the People
Posted in Branding, Product Packaging, TrademarksEarly on in the days of the blog, I wrote a post about Method cleaning products and my fascination with the fact that cleaning products could have not only fans, but vocal, proud fans. To me, Method has always taken a “hey, we’re all in this together” approach to marketing, as evidenced by its slogan “People… 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...