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Category Archives: Sight

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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

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

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

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

My Namesake Sues To Protect Its Famous Mark

By on Posted in Branding, Counterfeits, Dilution, False Advertising, Famous Marks, Infringement, Law Suits, Sight, Trademarks

Coincidentally (or perhaps by design), Tiffany and Company (“Tiffany”) filed suit on Valentine’s Day against Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”) to protect its trademark with respect to engagement rings.  We know from our prior post regarding Tiffany’s amicus brief filed in support of Christian Louboutin that Tiffany actively protects its brand. If you are like me,… Continue Reading

McDonald’s Trade Dress? State Farm is There.

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

Passing by a roadside billboard recently (below is a miniature version I found in the Minneapolis skyway system), my first thought was, wow, McDonald’s is getting into the juicy lucy business: Until more focus revealed that State Farm Insurance is the one behind the ad. Look familiar? No doubt burgers and car insurance are totally different lines of business and… Continue Reading

The Louboutin Color Trademark Controversy Continues

By on Posted in Branding, Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

While watching Lena Dunham stumble in her 6-inch Louboutin red-soled heels during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards broadcast, our comments revolved around the fact that her dress was so long, she should have worn slippers instead of stilettos.  We believed that Ms. Dunham should have waited to wear the Louboutin shoes until she was wearing… Continue Reading

Inherently Distinctive Product Packaging?

By on Posted in Branding, International, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Social Networking, Trademarks, USPTO

Earlier this month, we asked whether [yo]gurt(lab) has an inherently distinctive interior restaurant environment? This week, we’re focused on product packaging, and ask whether Spine Vodka has enough meat on the bones to satisfy the trademark test for an inherently distinctive product package design? This little gem of an image surfaced in a LinkedIn discussion where I learned… Continue Reading

Inherently Distinctive Restaurant Interior?

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

We recently focused our attention on a very unique-looking, dare I say distinctive, retail store exterior design; for a quick reminder, see here. The recent craze for self-serve frozen yogurt shops – where you pay by the ounce (or perhaps, by the pound), has us focused today on a pretty darn unique interior retail environment: This is… Continue Reading

No Plaque on This Scope Bottle Trademark

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

Would you place this mouth wash bottle on your bathroom counter or hide it under the counter? The answer to this question, it appears, can have a material impact on whether the shape and design of the bottle functions as a non-traditional trademark. The Procter & Gamble Company created this elegant container design — to counter the out-of-sight-out-of-mind… Continue Reading

Tebowing Trademark: Passion or Profit?

By on Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Idea Protection, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Sight, Trademarks

—John Reinan, Senior Director at Fast Horse, a Minneapolis marketing agency Tim Tebow was a great college quarterback. But now that he’s in the NFL, he’s joined the ranks of celebrities who are famous mainly for being famous.  Example A: “Tebowing,” his signature move.  After making a play, the devout Christian often drops to one… Continue Reading

Marketing Pitfall Kills Yellow Color Trademark

By on Posted in Advertising, Articles, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

Caution must be exercised in advertising and marketing materials when the brand owner desires ownership of non-traditional trademarks such as product configurations (here and here), trade dress, and single color marks too. In our ongoing effort to raise the awareness of marketing types to pitfalls that can kill non-traditional trademark rights, a recent decision from the Fifth… Continue Reading

Louboutin & Lessons Learned

By on Posted in Branding, Copyrights, Infringement, Keyword Ads, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Search Engines, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

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

Cease and Desist, Please

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

- Brent Carlson-Lee, President, Open Door Foods If you’re anything like me, you occasionally muse about being a celebrity. If I were a movie star, I’d gladly sign autographs – even while at a restaurant with my family. If I were the author of the hottest business book on the New York Times Best Sellers… Continue Reading

Louboutin Wins Second Circuit Appeal, Sort Of . . . .

By on Posted in Branding, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

At 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

Where there’s little light, we find big design hope

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

- Aaron Keller, Managing Principal, Capsule Whether it’s a natural tendency to write the underdog story or just a desire to see big get crushed by little, we tend to favor the small over the large. The economics of change have provided plenty of stories for us and plenty of small heroes to back. For… Continue Reading

World’s Shortest Trademark Cat Fight?

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Infringement, International, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

German-based Puma S.E. brought a trademark infringement lawsuit — based on the similarity of the cat logos — against Minnesota-based Arctic Cat, in the Northern District of Illinois at the end of last year (copy of complaint is here). As we have written about before, sometimes the substance and merits of a trademark fight can… Continue Reading

DIY Louboutin: A Can of Red Paint and $30 Pumps

By on Posted in Sight, Trademarks

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney Over at DuetsBlog, we have been anxiously awaiting the Second Circuit’s decision in Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent. It was predicted that a decision would be made by early Spring 2012. Meanwhile, the French have already made their decision and moved on, covered by our own Tiffany Blofield here. The British,… Continue Reading

Don’t Be A Clown, Bro: Trademark Your Catch Phrase (and put it to good use)

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

- Jonathan Applebaum, Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. While major league baseball players are not known for their creative celebrations, Washington Nationals’ rookie phenom Bryce Harper deserves praise for his legal resourcefulness after dismissing a celebration-related question from a Toronto reporter following the Nationals 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on June 12, 2012. The… Continue Reading

Seeing Orange in the Construction Space

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

Little did I know when I was writing What’s in an Orange-Colored Home Improvement Business Name? — that two days later, orange-color marks would be asserted in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in Minnesota federal district court over competing building construction services: Cedar Valley Exteriors, Inc. v. JNS Builders LLC. A copy of the complaint… Continue Reading