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Tag Archives: Design Patent

Samuel Adams Better Beer Glass . . . No Trademark For You?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

If the "Soup Nazi" were employed as a Trademark Examining Attorney at the USPTO, he might be heard crabbing at the makers of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, were they to attempt to register or claim as a trademark the shape of their "new" beer glass from 2007, now almost four years old: "No trademark for you!" ("Best… Continue Reading

MiraLAX Won’t “Loosen Up” Against OTC Store Brand Competition

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Dilution, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

Schering-Plough Healthcare, owner of the MiraLAX brand — the top-selling OTC oral laxative ($360 Million in OTC sales since launching in February 2007) — has pulled out all of the available stops and then some, in a pre-Thanksgiving Day federal district court action brought in the District of Delaware, asserting a variety of intellectual property and unfair competition claims… Continue Reading

Using Another’s Body to Sell Your Products? The Problem of Airbrushing Non-Traditional Trademarks

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Goodwill, Infringement, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

  Airbrushing is a familiar technique among advertisers looking to avoid the risk of trademark infringement or dilution liability when branded props of others appear and would otherwise be recognizable. It can work well when removing a traditional visual trademark, i.e., a logo or word mark, because there can be no likelihood of confusion with (or dilution of) a visual… Continue Reading