The City of Portland is known as a hub for craft beer, and its local government couldn’t be prouder. The Travel Portland website proudly proclaims that Portland is “home to more breweries than any other city on earth.” Yet the city’s relationship with the local craft beer scene is not so bubbly at the moment,
November 2017
John Deere: These Colors Don’t Run
Growing up with a farm in the family, I learned early on that Nothing Runs Like Deere®. As people tend to do, we named all of the tractors – after Masters of the Universe characters, of course. There was a front-loader type tractor of a brand I don’t recall named Skelator, another old tractor…
Supreme Court Justices’ Questions in Oil States Suggest Inter Partes Review Will Be Upheld as Constitutional
On Monday, November 27, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, No. 16-712. The case presents a direct challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO’s”) “inter partes review” (“IPR”) process, under which third parties can petition the USPTO’s Patent Trial and …
Will the Velveeta Brand Melt into Laughter?
What do you think of when you hear the word Velveeta? Me too, childhood — complete with piping hot Campbell’s tomato soup — and perfectly melted grilled cheese sandwiches. Later in life, at least for me, came liquid gold and RO*TEL queso dip, usually on weekend game days. And, my daughter might add to…
Happy Thankfulness and Gratitude!
Instead of saying the traditional Happy Thanksgiving exclamation this year, I thought I’d reframe it this way: Happy Thankfulness and Gratitude!
Thankfulness is a state of mind. It is a choice, a repeated fork in the road for each of us. Gratitude is a decision we can make and live, every minute of the…
Tasting Notes: When Alcohol Goods and Services Descriptions Matter
-Martha Engel, Attorney
On December 11, I will be presenting a CLE on Brewery and Distillery Law, discussing trademark issues affecting breweries and distilleries. One of the topics that I’ll spend some time on during that presentation – and one that we’ve covered a lot here – is how the Trademark Office considers beer…
When Names become Brand Names
And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
Genesis 2:19
Naming things is a fundamentally personal, human act that sometimes – in a profession all about brand names – we take for granted. It’s easy to forget when we are clearing, registering, and protecting names, that at a basic level we…
DYKES ON BIKES No Longer Idling After Matal v. Tam
— Jessica Gutierrez Alm, Attorney
Simon Tam wasn’t the only one barred by the Lanham Act from reclaiming a historically derogatory term.
Dykes on Bikes is a nonprofit lesbian motorcycle organization. According to their website, the group’s mission is to “support philanthropic endeavors in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and women’s communities, and to reach…
Call of Duty Trademark Lawsuit: A Humvee Humdinger
AM General, manufacturer of Humvee military vehicles, has sued Activision Blizzard for trademark infringement, based on the use of the “Humvee” and “HMMWV” marks for the virtual military vehicles displayed in Activision’s Call of Duty video games. See the complaint here, filed last week in the Southern District of New York. For those of…
Classic Trademark Fair Use of Google Mark?
North Memorial Health must be spending significant advertising dollars at the moment, with a variety of ads appearing all over the Minneapolis skyway system, above is one current example.
In addition, there are a series of humorous and sarcastic TV ads that were designed to poke the bear of our broken health care system, congrats…