DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Category Archives: Trademarks

Subscribe to Trademarks RSS Feed

The Most Famous Bottle Design, Forever?

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

Coca-Cola settled on its famous contour bottle design almost 100 years ago, in 1916, after several years of trials with other far less distinctive shapes (at least under today’s standards): Federal trademark registration data confirms the first use date to be July 8, 1916. The description of the contour bottle design mark in 1960 was: “The… Continue Reading

The INTA “Trademark Bullying” Straitjacket

By on Posted in Advertising, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

This past week I’ve been pondering a question of great importance: When might a straitjacket double as a life vest? The answer actually arrived last Monday during INTA’s “The Ethics of Trademark Bullying” panel discussion at the 135th Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. In so many words, our good friend and wise guy Ron Coleman, over at… Continue Reading

It’s Raining Fluid Trademarks

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

So-called “fluid” trademarks are gaining a recent downpour of attention – on Monday INTA wrote about them in the Daily News distributed in Dallas at INTA’s 135th Annual Meeting, it also held a panel discussion on the topic the same date (we’ll have more about that next week), and just yesterday guest-blogger Jason Voiovich provided an insightful marketer’s… Continue Reading

Oh Ketchup…I’m Just Not That Into You: Understanding the Value of Fluid Trademarks

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Famous Marks, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, Product Packaging, Trademarks

- Jason Voiovich, Director of Corporate Marketing, Logic PD Don’t get me wrong.  My two children elevate their weekly Heinz intake regimen to near Olympian discipline.  But me?  I enjoy a good dollop with pound of fries at the Lion’s Tap, but I haven’t given America’s second-favorite red condiment a second thought since John Kerry… Continue Reading

Rapala Billboard Ads Continue to Engage

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Patents, Product Configurations, Search Engines, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

It’s that time of year again. The fishing opener in Minnesota is upon us this coming Saturday, so Rapala is sporting its new billboard advertisement. Judging from USPTO trademark filings, it looks like the cutesy “Bass Friends Forever“ tagline is intended to adorn clothing items too. You will recall that we have consistently covered various iterations of the Rapala billboard… Continue Reading

OfficeMax’s Rubber Band Ball Brand Symbol

By on Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

OfficeMax has been sporting its friendly and colorful rubber band ball brand signal on billboard advertising and delivery trucks for some time, but yesterday is the first time I’ve noticed prominent static use of the bouncy rubber band ball as a non-verbal logo on storefront signage positioned next to the OfficeMax brand name (like the… Continue Reading

College Football Playoff Called College Football Playoff

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Trademarks

Less than nine months ago, the powers-that-be in college football approved a plan that would ditch the current postseason bowl season for the best teams in the country and replace it with a four-team playoff.  While many had been clamoring for an eight- or sixteen-team playoff, the four-team playoff was certainly an improvement over the previous… Continue Reading

Excellent FUSE Panel Discussion

By on Posted in Branding, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademarks

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the 2013 FUSE Design & Culture // Brand Strategy & Packaging Conference earlier this week in Chicago. Having the privilege of snapping the photo below – just prior to the Brand Differentiation Through Design panel discussion on Wednesday afternoon – made my day, thanks for asking Sue! Great insights and perspectives from… Continue Reading

Putt-Putt Has No Miniature Trademark Rights

By on Posted in Branding, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Trademarks

With all the golf coverage of the Masters Tournament and the coveted Green Jacket, this past weekend, it seemed particularly appropriate to report on a recent trademark case involving the miniature variety of golf: Putt-Putt, LLC v. 416 Constant Friendship, LLC (April 5, 2013 D. Md.). So, I learned two things this weekend, Adam Scott… Continue Reading

A New Generation of Storytelling: Getting a Grip on The New Pepsi Bottle Design

By on Posted in Branding, Food, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Trademarks

The importance of “storytelling” seems to be the buzzword lately when it comes to branding communications and decisions. For example, last August Branding Strategy Insider wrote that “Brands Must Master the Art of Storytelling,” and just last week it wrote twice on the subject, about “Shared Values in Brand Storytelling” and “5 Pillars for Brand Storytelling Success.”… Continue Reading

When Will We Run Out of Words to Trademark?

By on Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

-John Reinan, Senior Director, Media Relations, Fast Horse I’ve been thinking about trademark bullying, and I was all set to write a surprising piece standing up for the bullies. You know, the big companies that spend giant piles of money developing products and services, and then hiring marketing geniuses like me to name them, and… Continue Reading

The Most Important Shot in Trademark History

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Guest Bloggers, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Sight, Trademarks

- Draeke Weseman, Weseman Law Office, PLLC   Pantone 278: Carolina Blue What I do remember about that evening is that stores for dozens of miles around must have sold out of light blue paint, because nearly everyone had a stash, which was dumped indiscriminately over friends and strangers in a precursor to the Gatorade… Continue Reading

Canine Inspired Copyright Confusion?

By on Posted in Agreements, Contracts, Copyrights, Infringement, Marketing, Social Networking, Trademarks

When we mention confusion on DuetsBlog, we’re typically referring to the well-known likelihood of confusion test of trademark infringement. But today, we’re focused on the apparent confusion many have about the important question of: When copyright protection comes into being. If you ever have wondered whether something is or has been “copyrighted,” this post is for… Continue Reading

It’s Madness and We’re Dancing

By on Posted in Advertising, Trademarks

Spring is here! Although it certainly doesn’t look or feel like it up here in Minnesota.  And more importantly, March Madness is here!!!!  Hope you have enjoyed watching the games thus far. Like the SUPER BOWL and the OLYMPICS, MARCH MADNESS is just one of those phrases to maybe stay away from.  The NCAA owns… Continue Reading

Team Mascots: Balancing Tradition and Cultural Sensitivity

By on Posted in Trademarks

During my years at the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign as an undergraduate student, the student body became embroiled in a heated debate about the continued viability of our team’s mascot. Our mascot was the “Fighting Illini,” which was portrayed by a student that dressed up as American Indian “Chief Illiniwek.” Chief Illiniwek is… Continue Reading

Armstrong Lanced from Livestrong Identity

By on Posted in Branding, Trademarks

Brand New Blog recently reported on the unfortunate, but unsurprising piercing of Lance Armstrong’s name from the logo and visual identity of the Livestrong Foundation: It is no longer about the man, but the mission — still a laudable one: For more on the fall of Lance Armstrong and his once unstoppable personal brand, see Brent’s… Continue Reading

Minnesota to Own “Trademark Bullies”

By on Posted in Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

Minnesota is positioned once again to take legislative ownership of the ”trademark bullying” debate. Putting aside the serious questions of whether new laws are needed and whether a state as opposed to a federal solution can have any meaningful impact, and despite the federal government’s recent focus on the perceived problem that ended in a whimper, Rep. Peppin appears… Continue Reading

Kardashians Caught Without Makeup, But Not The Way You’d Expect

By on Posted in Advertising, Law Suits, Trademarks

For those of you that came looking for pictures of Kim without face paste, this isn’t your post.  (Try this one.  Yikes.)  But if you’re interested in trademarks and the cult of personality, read on. Some of you might recall my Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s post from mid-January where I summarized a brouhaha developing over… Continue Reading