- Jason Voiovich, Director of Corporate Marketing, Logic PD Last week, the US Patent and Trademark Office conferred upon Apple the Excalibur of intellectual property: The GUI patent that covers the general operation of today’s smartphone and tablet universe. Officially, it is patent 8,223,134 and you can read all about it here, or in excruciating… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Touch
Subscribe to Touch RSS FeedThe Smell of Fear
Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Smell, Touch—Aaron Keller, Principal at Capsule During this time of year there are plenty of fright “experiences” where you can drag a loved one into a heart thumping confrontation of fear. These experiences are elaborately designed and those who attend know the rules, like “this one doesn’t allow the characters to touch you.” Apparently others do… Continue Reading
Touchmarks, Trademarks & Tixels
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Touch, TrademarksAugmented Legality writes: "Soon, technologies that augment our sense of touch may lead to a rush of trademark applications seeking to protect a wide variety of artificial textures." Brian Wassom goes on to identify an interesting new technology being promoted by Senseg, a Helsinki-based company that apparently knows a lot about tixels (tactile pixels): "Senseg E-Sense makes use… 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
Webinar on Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sound, Color, Shape, Scent & More
Posted in Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksI’m happy to share with you that on Tuesday February 8, 2011, I’m speaking about one of my favorite topics, non-traditional trademarks, with my friends Linda McLeod of Finnegan Henderson and Stephen Feingold of Kilpatrick Townsend, in a webinar program put on by Strafford Publications, Inc. The webinar begins at 1:00 PM EST and Noon CST. Registration details… Continue Reading
A Dickensian Portrait of Christmas Day
Posted in Advertising, Food, Goodwill, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch–Dan Kelly, Attorney I’ve often thought that copy writers could do worse than to make a close study of some of Charles Dickens’ work. Perhaps too wordy a model for most copy, especially advertising and marketing copy, but he could paint a picture with words. [T]he people who were shovelling away on the housetops were… Continue Reading
Brand Signals: The Building Blocks of Brand Identity
Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksBrands communicate with the world through a series of message delivery systems such as broadcast advertising, web sites, company representatives and product interaction. These systems utilize brand signals to communicate. While these signals commonly take the form of brand names and logos, they can also extend into sight, sound, touch, taste, smell or even action… Continue Reading
Sleight of Hand? Kimberly-Clark Amends Sensory Touch Mark to Packaging Design Mark
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Touch, TrademarksAs you may recall from March of this year, we blogged about Kimberly-Clark’s novel intent-to-use trademark application for a "sensory, touch mark" in connection with disposable paper hand-towels. Other discussions of sensory, touch marks may be found here. In any event, the original description of the claimed Kimberly-Clark trademark was as follows: "The mark consists of… Continue Reading
A Trademark Touch: Owning and Protecting Touchmarks
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Touch, TrademarksThe October/November issue of Brand Packaging magazine just hit the streets and I’m deeply honored to say that my piece entitled "A Trademark Touch: Strategies for Owning and Protecting Touchmarks" is this issue’s "cover story" (minus the skull and crossbones). The digital version can be read here. I hope you find it eye-opening in a… Continue Reading
One Risqué of a Bawls-to-the-Wall Marketing Style?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Touch, TrademarksHave you ever experienced or observed marketing styles that might be fairly described as high-octane, fast-paced, or perhaps, so hopped-up on Red Bull® or some other energy drink, there is simply no time for meaningful collaboration, much less careful, proactive, strategic thinking or planning? Perhaps a fun, exhilarating experience, but what are the consequences? If you have, as you might know first hand… Continue Reading
Non-Traditional Trademarks Revisited: Feel Me, Touch Me
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Look-For Ads, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksTommy has a lot to offer in advancing the recognition of certain kinds of non-traditional trademarks, especially touch marks. Yes, The Who’s tune from the Tommy Soundtrack "See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You" repeats these lyrics over and over: "See me, feel me, touch me, heal me."
Touch Trademarks and Tactile Brands With Mojo: Feeling the Strength of a Velvet, Turgid, Touch Mark?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Look-For Ads, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksLet’s revisit the topic of non-traditional "touch" trademarks today. Of all the traditional five human senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) and trademarks that can be perceived by one or more of those senses, touch, a/k/a tactile, a/k/a texture trademarks are just about as uncommon as any (taste, perhaps, being the least common). Indeed, back in 2006, Marty Schwimmer from The Trademark Blog… Continue Reading
Kimberly-Clark and The Color Purple: Keeping Trademark Scope Current and Consistent with Business Scope
Posted in Branding, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Touch, TrademarksKimberly-Clark® is no stranger to securing federal registrations for its various non-traditional trademarks. No doubt, these unconventional trademark assets are of great commercial value and an important part of K-C’s evolving business strategy and intellectual property portfolio. My previous post about the oval-shaped facial tissue container K-C was able to federally register in November 2007 is linked here. That… Continue Reading
“Shift the Conversation”
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Sound, Touch–Sharon Armstrong, Attorney Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Method products. They are non-toxic, smell good, they come in the kind of stylish product packaging that you can display on any countertop, and they work. So it should come to no surprise that Method is a brand with fans. What other manufacturer of toilet bowl cleaner… Continue Reading
Understanding the Critical Role of the “Brand” in Product Packaging
Posted in Advertising, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Sight, Touch, TrademarksBuilding a packaging brand seems simple at the outset. The only problem is you have to understand what the consumer wants and expects in their product packaging. That consumer is on the move too. They are time crunched, overworked and overwhelmed with information and even worse you have only 2.6 seconds to convince them to… Continue Reading
Touchy Trademarks
Posted in Famous Marks, Genericide, Look-For Ads, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Touch, TrademarksWhen are trademarks touchy? Ask the good people at Kimberly-Clark®. One example might be when they are risky to use because of the prior rights of another. This “touchy” example is not unique to Kimberly-Clark®, of course, it is known to anyone who has been through the naming process, and as Aaron Keller of Capsule… Continue Reading
The Paradox of Brand Protection: Knowing When to Hit the Consumer Over the Head
Posted in Branding, Law Suits, Look-For Ads, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksI often remind branding professionals that trademark law rewards their creativity. Some seem to perk up with this subtle encouragement. After all, everyone likes to be rewarded, right? Well, one of the unobvious rewards for creativity comes in the prompt timing of when trademark ownership begins. Being able to own and enjoy exclusive rights on… Continue Reading
Brands & Trademarks: Giving New Meaning to the Phrase “Stimulus Package”
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, TrademarksThere is certainly a lot of buzz in the news these days about “Stimulus Packages” and how they might be utilized around the globe to spur economic growth and permit us all to resume our active pursuit of prosperity. Let us not forget that a brand (and the underlying trademarks that provide for the legal protection… 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...