As promised, here are some further thoughts, lessons learned, and remaining unanswered questions concerning the recent and long-anticipated decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent Am. Holding, Inc. Lessons Learned for Marketing Types: Single color trademarks may be owned, registered, and protected when they are distinctive and… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Scope of Rights
Louboutin Wins Second Circuit Appeal, Sort Of . . . .
Posted in Branding, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTOAt long last, here is a pdf link to the decision, and here is the Second Circuit Court of Appeals summary in a nutshell: “We conclude that the District Court’s holding that a single color can never serve as a trademark in the fashion industry, Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent Am., Inc., 778… Continue Reading
Trademark Hooliganism
Posted in Articles, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Trademark Bullying, TrademarksA day doesn’t go by without my GoogleAlert spotting another online reference to some purported example of “trademark bullying.” It seems like just about any private assertion of trademark infringement will trigger the use of the term as a very public knee-jerk response. As you know, we’ve spilled a lot of ink, writing about the topic… Continue Reading
Tree Hugging Evidence of Successful Trademark Enforcement?
Posted in Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Squirrelly Thoughts, Trademark Bullying, TrademarksIt is not every day that tree rings are trending on Bing. This image got me thinking about how it might be an even better image to illustrate how effective trademark enforcement can impact the scope of trademark rights. As you may recall, I have illustrated this concept before using the perfectly regular concentric circles… Continue Reading
Beware the Paralyzing “Whac-A-Mole” Trademark Mentality
Posted in Branding, Domain Names, Infringement, Marketing, TrademarksTrademark enforcement against infringing domains on the Internet is frequently likened to playing Whac-A-Mole. Just as soon as you eliminate one, up pops another, and another, etc. Dan’s post from last week on the most recent land rush on the Internet – with the creation of almost infinite Internet real estate — may be a warning that this comparison… Continue Reading
Brand Extensions That Significantly Expand Trademark Strength, Scope, and Risk
Posted in Articles, Branding, Marketing, TrademarksAs we have written before, any brand extension requires the necessary due diligence to mitigate the risk of a serious trademark conflict. And, from a trademark perspective, both strength and scope of rights necessarily expand as the number of different goods and services sold under the brand grows. If recent marketing research on brand extensions is followed… Continue Reading
Minnesota’s Legislative Answer to “Trademark Bullying”?
Posted in Infringement, Law Suits, Trademark Bullying, 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
Louboutin Red-Sole & Surrounding Contrast: An Implied Trademark Limitation
Posted in Articles, Branding, Fair Use, Infringement, International, Law Suits, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, TrademarksThe Louboutin lacquered red sole trademark is the subject of great debate in the trademark world, fashion industry, popular news media, and among law school academics and friends of the court. I’m just not seeing it. I really don’t see a viable trademark claim here for Louboutin. Not for the reasons found by the district court — I… Continue Reading
What Does “W” Mean to You?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, TrademarksThe letter "W" is an interesting one. Besides being the twenty-third letter in the alphabet, it is the only one having more than one syllable; it has three – unless it is pronounced with two: dub-yah. It is more than a bit ironic that — as a truncated single-letter brand — W, in most cases, has three times the syllables… Continue Reading
Brilliant Trademark Advice or Baloney?
Posted in Almost Advice, Genericide, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, TrademarksA few bits of trademark advice recently passed across my screen from The Marketing Blog: Turning Entrepreneurs Into Marketers – advice that I believe deserves some friendly comment and critique, leaving you to decide whether any of it rises to the level of brilliant trademark advice or sinks to the level of trademark baloney: “Trademark as you go. Don’t wait… 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
Post-Sale Initial Interest Trademark Confusion?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, TrademarksTwo of the above magazine titles were displayed on the coffee table of the condo that we rented over our recent spring break vacation (the first and third from the left). My first reaction was, good grief, The Oprah "owns" coffee table tops in Grand Cayman too! My family members also wondered about a possible connection… Continue Reading
The Mark of a Real Trademark Bully
Posted in Dilution, Domain Names, Famous Marks, Trademarks, TTABSeems as though there is a lot of discussion and news reports these days about bullying and how to put a stop to it: School bullying, workplace bullying, and cyber-bullying, to name a few of the most common types. Fair enough, as I recall, my seventh grade PE teacher was a real bully. However, for those… Continue Reading
Taking Branding Cues from Q in the Single-Letter Trademark Queue
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationWelcome to another edition of AlphaWatch (the next one in our queue), where we explore the reach of single-letter trademarks, this time focusing on the letter Q and the single-letter branding cues it might suggest to consumers: Are you able to name the un-truncated version of this single-letter mark and brand? My daughter could. The answer is… Continue Reading
Emoticons as Trademarks
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, TrademarksLast week, I blogged about a federally-registered emoticon trademark, one that I discovered at 30,000 feet, here. Emoticons as trademarks? Does the idea make you want to roll your eyes like Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig as Aunt Linda? Brace yourself, they appear inclined to stay, for at least a while! Two weeks ago I couldn’t have told you what an emoticon… Continue Reading
Permission to Exploit Jennifer Aniston’s Right of Publicity?
Posted in Advertising, Agreements, Contracts, MarketingIt is probably safe to assume that Channel 45 obtained permission to use Jennifer Aniston’s likeness and exploit her right of publicity in promoting viewership of syndicated Friends television programs. That’s a deal where everyone appears to win, Channel 45, viewers, advertisers, Aniston, and the other Friends cast members who share in the syndication royalties along with Ms. Aniston…. Continue Reading
Lightning Strikes How Many Times?
Posted in Branding, Sight, TrademarksI have heard that lightning only strikes once in the same place, but apparently that is only a myth. Indeed, the number of lightning bolt logos that have "hit" the mail room, over the years, at the U.S. Trademark Office appear to provide additional evidence for disproving the popular myth. So, what does that say, if anything, about the… Continue Reading
Battle of the Nerds? Best Buy’s Geek Squad¬Æ on Trademark Patrol
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Domain Names, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksBest Buy, owner of the Geek Squad brand since 2002, has filed a federal trademark infringement complaint in Minnesota against a pair of individual defendants apparently located in Missouri and California, for allegedly registering and using <thegeekpatrol.biz> domain and the names "Geek Patrol," "Geek Squad," and "Geek Squad Patrol". Here is a copy of the Complaint, including Exhibit A (Trademark registrations), Exhibit… Continue Reading
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...
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...
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...
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...
Martha Engel
Although my interest in gadgetry and my aptitude for math eventually led me to become an engineer, my ad executive father and artistically gifted mother fostered an appreciation for the creative from a young age. More...
Anjali Shankar
When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved writing short stories. Creativity and imagination seem to come naturally to people when they are young. More...
Timothy Sitzmann
I have always considered myself to be a creative person. Full disclosure: I'm not claiming that I've created anything good, merely that I have created things that exist.More...
Cathleen Dahl
Trademarks and I met through a small job advertisement in the back of a local newspaper, and little did I know that I would spend the next 18 years (and counting) deriving a living from their existence and importance. More...