A 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
Tag Archives: Trademarked
What Does “Trademark” Mean to You?
Posted in TrademarksInherent in the question posed by the title of this post is the fact that the word "trademark" has more than one meaning, in fact, multiple meanings in the English language. Yet, some trademark types would have you believe that there is only one true meaning to the word "trademark" and that this meaning is not… Continue Reading
Fair Logo, Fair Use & Fair Politics? The Minnesota State Fair’s Trademark-on-a-Stick
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, First Amendment, Food, Goodwill, Infringement, Marketing, Television, TrademarksThe newest fare at the Minnesota State Fair is not Camel-on-a-Stick, Buffalo-on-a-Stick, or any other kind of Food-on-a-Stick, but rather, Trademark-on-a-Stick. Earlier this week, the Minnesota State Fair (owned and operated by the Minnesota State Agricultural Society, a Minnesota State Agency) was hot to skewer the unauthorized use of its nearly three-decade-old and more recently trademarked logo, by incumbent Republican U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, in a political ad… Continue Reading
IP Grammar . . . and Those Who Cringe About It
Posted in Mixed Bag of NutsLast September, in my blog post entitled "What Does Trademarked Mean to You?," I wrote: More than a few trademark types cringe when their clients or others say things like "let’s trademark it," "they didn’t trademark their logo," or "we don’t want to trademark this name," and, when they ask questions like "is it trademarked?"… Continue Reading
Unlawful Tarnishment of Chevron’s Shining Texaco Star?
Posted in Agreements, Contracts, Dilution, Famous Marks, Goodwill, Law Suits, Non-Traditional Trademarks, TrademarksAn interesting trademark case recently was filed in federal district court in Minnesota, Chevron Intellectual Property LLC et al v. MDW Equity Partners, LLC, a pdf copy of the complaint here. As beleaguered BP‘s once valuable goodwill and reputation continues to flounder in the court of public opinion with the tragic gulf oil spill and disaster (by the way, how… Continue Reading
Why Marketers Don’t Give Two Hoots about Trademark Concerns‚Ñ¢
Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Trademarksby James Mahoney, Creative director/writer at Razor’s Edge Communications Okay, so I’ve read a lot of whining and agita about how marketers continually drive trademark attorneys to distraction with un-trademarkable names. And how advertisers drive those same attorneys to that same distraction with potential trademark infringements. It’s time to let you in on a dirty… Continue Reading
What the *-)- Blogging From 30,000 Feet
Posted in Branding, Marketing, TrademarksSome things you should do, just because you can. For example, when I was sixteen, I jumped out of a plane at 3,000 feet, with a parachute tethered to the plane, of course, landing near a chicken farm, surrounded by barbed wire, somewhere in rural North Carolina. That was an experience I’ll never forget, but I haven’t repeated it, at least… 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
Does Your Eye Spy A Canary?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Non-Traditional Trademarks, TrademarksA couple of weeks ago I posted an Accountemps billboard advertisement that prominently features what appears to be a 3M Post-it brand removable adhesive note, and I asked whether it constitutes fair use, and whether 3M’s permission is necessary to run the advertisement, since 3M owns a federal trademark registration for the color "canary yellow" in connection with these notes…. Continue Reading
Update: Who’s Your Patty? Lawsuit and Reverse Confusion
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksThe Minneapolis Star Tribune finally reported on the Who’s Your Patty? trademark infringement lawsuit filed in August by self-proclaimed "David" (Lion’s Tap) against "Goliath" (McDonald’s), here. Our previous coverage is here, here, and here. The Star Tribune reports that McDonald’s has not yet answered the complaint filed by Lion’s Tap. That’s true, but all that means is… 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
Striking The Pose of Differentiation?
Posted in Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Marketing, Sight, TrademarksAs you’ll see, I’m no equestrian (nor equine expert for that matter), but given the non-verbal logos shown above, are you able to tell what company operates a fleet of these semi tractor-trailers? Does the color of the horse help? Horse breed? The direction it is facing? How about its pose? Some possible considerations and the answer below the jump.
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."
What Does “Trademarked” Mean to You?
Posted in Marketing, TrademarksMore than a few trademark types cringe when their clients or others say things like "let’s trademark it," "they didn’t trademark their logo," or "we don’t want to trademark this name," and, when they ask questions like "is it trademarked?" or "is that trademarked software?" or "did we ever trademark our logo?" or "should we… 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...
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...