We’ve spilled a lot of digital ink discussing the trademark bullying topic, going all the way back to my original blog post from 2010: ”The Mark of a Real Trademark Bully.” Within the last several days, there has been quite a bit of online media coverage about Trademarkia’s new features that tout an ability to “Find… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Trademark Office
Trademark Attorneys & Verified USPTO Statements
Posted in Almost Advice, Law Suits, Trademarks, TTAB"Just because you can," is rarely a good reason to support a decision that really matters. This principle is no less true in the trademark world than it is elsewhere. So, relying on your own navigation of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) online search database without also seeking a trademark attorney’s competent analysis of the… Continue Reading
Registration Symbol Misuse As Trademark Fraud?
Posted in Marketing, Trademarks, TTABTrademark types frequently encounter brand owners and managers with substantial misunderstanding and confusion about when use of the federal registration notice symbol is lawful. Most of the time a misuse or technical violation results from an honest mistake, but sometimes the misuse is, and starts out intentional, or perhaps the misuse begins to look intentional if it isn’t promptly… Continue Reading
Trademark Fraud = Reckless Disregard For The Truth?
Posted in TrademarksAaron Keller was busy yesterday making weighty predictions about the basis for our next economy: The Designed Economy. As I prepare to provide attendees at the Midwest IP Institute tomorrow with a trademark fraud update – today, I thought I’d provide a preview – and even go out on a small limb – making a couple of predictions of my own, relating… Continue Reading
A Famous Trademark That Casts a Very Long Shadow
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksThis is the epitome of a famous non-verbal logo and trademark that truly can stand alone (we have discussed others too): Hat tip to John Welch over at the TTABlog who did a very nice write up on this interesting decision: Apple, Inc. v. Echospin, LLC. Basically, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office… Continue Reading
Remember Slogans as Part of Your Branding Arsenal
Posted in BrandingOne of the common questions I hear from non-legal and non-marketing types is whether only a design can be a trademark and therefore registrable as such. As readers of this blog are well aware, almost any word or design can function as a trademark if it is used as an indicator of source. In addition to… Continue Reading
Geographic Trademarks
Posted in TrademarksCalifornia media outlets reported yesterday that Oakland recently joined a boycott against Arizona due to the latter state’s passage of a new immigration bill, which requires police to question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally. Other cities considering boycotts include Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. … Continue Reading
What is Maker’s Mark’s Mark?
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Product Packaging, Sight, TrademarksLast Friday, a federal court in Kentucky ruled that Fortune Brands, the maker of Maker’s Mark bourbon, enjoys exclusive rights in the dripping wax seal that adorns each bottle of the spirit. (You can read about the case in earlier stages in Dan’s post, here.). Fortune had sued Diageo, another beverage giant and maker of Casa Cuervo… 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
Texas Toasted? How to Slice the Trademark Spectrum of Distinctiveness
Posted in Branding, Fair Use, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademarksv. Texas Toast is the generic name for a type of bread, you know, the big thick double-cut slices. Anyone can call their bread Texas Toast if that is what they are selling, and, by the way, it doesn’t have to be toasted for the name to fit. But, what if you’re selling a product made from bread, say, croutons?… Continue Reading
What a Crock, Pot That Is . . .
Posted in Branding, Genericide, Infringement, Keyword Ads, Law Suits, Marketing, Search Engines, TrademarksWe’re not talking the foamed footwear Crocs® that Randall Hull wrote about in his What a Croc! post from a couple of weeks ago. Instead, we’re talking slow cookers — on this snow-capped Valentine’s Day in the Twin Cities. Every once in a while a stroll down the grocery store aisle leaves me surprised when… Continue Reading
Question Mark Brands?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks, TTABA couple of months ago I blogged about Branding Exclamations! Before that I blogged about Increasingly Intense Ellipsis Branding . . . . Now, it appears I must revisit the subject of punctuation mark branding given Cadbury Adams’ new Mega Mystery Stride brand gum, prominently featuring a question mark logo on the packaging where the S logo normally appears. The… 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
Taking the Cake With Suggestive Trademarks?
Posted in Branding, Food, Marketing, Sight, TrademarksJohn Reinan provided yesterday a marketer’s perspective that questioned the value of coined trademarks. In my experience, as a trademark type, one place on the spectrum of distinctiveness where both trademark and marketing types can have their cake and eat it too, is the delicious category of suggestive trademarks. From the legal side of the coin, suggestive… Continue Reading
Holiday Inn Puts Dimmer on Non-Traditional Lighting Trademarks
Posted in Branding, Look-For Ads, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, TrademarksA couple of months ago there was quite a buzz about Holiday Inn’s projected $4 million annual savings by moving to a leaner and greener direction with their adoption of LED lighting on exterior signage. As you may recall, back in June we blogged about Holiday Inn’s interesting effort to federally register a pair of non-traditional lighting trademarks, one employing a green-colored… Continue Reading
More On The Fordless Blue Oval
Posted in Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, TrademarksWhat do you think, is Overstock.com selling bling with the Fordless blue oval logo? As you may recall from my post back in September, Ford Motor Company is attempting to register the below shown non-verbal logo as a trademark for a variety of goods in Int’l Class 12: And, as you may recall from Dan’s I See Blue Ovals post… Continue Reading
Simply a Miscellaneous Design?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Sight, TrademarksIn case you’re wondering, this design is a federally-registered non-verbal trademark. The owner identified it as a "Miscellaneous Design," without further detail or description (since it predated the more rigorous rules on supplying the Trademark Office with an accurate and detailed description of the mark). The U.S. Trademark Office assigned to this design mark Design Code 24.15.25 ("other arrows") and in… Continue Reading
True Lies, Trademark Fraud, and the Medinol Detour
Posted in Almost Advice, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Trademarks, TTABTrademark types: As promised, here are some of my more detailed thoughts and perspectives (at least for the time being) on the most significant trademark case of the year: In re Bose. Thanks to Thomson Reuters for asking me to share them with their readers. I look forward to some great dialogue on the likely… Continue Reading
Blue Oval, But Look Mom, No Words!
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, TrademarksWhat does this image signify to you? For full credit, please answer the question before peeking back at Dan’s popular post called "I See Blue Ovals."
Twitter, Twitter Everywhere — But Will They Own the Tweet?
Posted in Guest BloggersFor the last month or so I’ve been following the antics of Twitter as they attempt to assert rights to the word "tweet". Based on their completely inconsistent—one might even say schizophrenic approach, I feel justified in using the word "antics". Until very recently, Twitter didn’t seem to care much about what third-party apps were named…. Continue Reading
CAFC Redirects TTAB in Trademark Fraud Ruling Today: In re Bose Decided
Posted in Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Trademarks, TTABToday is a really, really big day for trademark types. As many of us have been saying for a couple of years now, trademark fraud (i.e., fraud on the U.S. Trademark Office) continues to be one of the hottest issues facing trademark owners and the attorneys who represent them. Perhaps after today, not so much, but who really… Continue Reading
Single Letter Chewing Gum Brands: A Lasting Flavor or Just B S?
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, TrademarksMy recent family road trip through the heartland had me spending more time than usual pumping gas and shopping in convenience stores, so a few chewing gum brands "gone single letter" caught my eye. As you may recall, I already have reported on Single Letter Envy in Hotel Branding…. Continue Reading
Pros and Cons of Stand-Alone Non-Verbal Logos and Other Trademark Styles: A Legal Perspective
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Infringement, Marketing, TrademarksAs promised earlier this week, in my post entitled "Without Words, But Not Speechless: More On Non-Verbal Logos That Can Stand Alone," here is my effort to identify, from a legal perspective, some of the pros and cons of non-verbal logos and other trademark styles. But, before addressing the legal implications, it is worth noting that a number of our insightful readers and commenters already… 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
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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...
Joy S. Newborg
When I took a personality/career test in high school to determine which path in life I should follow, I was told I should either be in broadcast journalism or law. So after I went to undergraduate school for broadcast journalism and film/television, I went on to obtain my law degree from the University of Minnesota. 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...