May 2016

– Jason Sprenger – President, Game Changer Communications

2016, thus far, has been a busy year for celebrities passing away.  The shock and grief many people feel is palpable.  But it’s not just people reacting to these events anymore; in this new era of social media and creative advertising, it’s never been easier for companies

-Wes Anderson, Attorney

As the hustle and bustle of the INTA 2016 Annual Meeting drew to a close yesterday, I reflected on the session “#HASHTAGS #EverythingYouNeedToKnow” from Tuesday. It seems trademark protection may not (yet) fit comfortably into the hashtag world.

DuetsBlog previously provided a helpful tutorial on the nuts and bolts of

The federal courts of appeals have split as to how to apply the doctrine of nominative fair use in trademark infringement cases. Last week, the Second Circuit endorsed the nominative fair use factors used by the Ninth and Third Circuits. At the same time, however, the court rejected the manner in which the Ninth and

-Wes Anderson, Attorney

It has not been a great week for oatmeal.

The Quaker Oats Company (a subsidiary of food and beverage giant PepsiCo), on the heels of a recall for its Quaker Quinoa Granola Bars, has also made a rather embarrassing gaffe on the trademark enforcement front. And unfortunately, demand letters are far 

-Martha Engel, Attorney

It’s rare that we focus on descriptions of goods or services here, but one of the most common reasons that a trademark for a brewery or winery is refused registration at the Trademark Office comes down to the description of services.  “Brewery services” and “winery services” are popular descriptions often used by

The headline might be considered old news to some, but since intellectual property attorneys from around the world will be descending upon Minneapolis for the remainder of the week, and since I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the American Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Meeting at the Minneapolis Hilton, on the history and public policy

BudweiserAmericaCansLast week the Twittersphere was chirping loudly and negatively in response to reports that Belgian-owned Inbev would be replacing the Budweiser brand name with “America” on beer cans, as shown above. No bow-tie can shape in this campaign, but the logo is to be on the can’s back.

Headlines like these, suggesting a permanent