A few months ago I posted about a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Ornua, seller of Kerrygold® Pure Irish Butter, against Defendants Old World Creamery and Eurogold USA, who briefly sold Irish butter under the mark Irishgold. The court granted Ornua’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO), concluding that Ornua had a reasonable likelihood
My Namesake Triumphs: Tiffany & Co. awarded $19.35 million
The four year saga ended (at least for now) with Tiffany & Co. being awarded for its vigorous fight to maintain its trademark and protect against genericide. As previously reported, Tiffany & Co. filed suit against Costco Corporation (“Costco”) to protect its trademark with respect to engagement rings on Valentine’s Day in 2013. (Read my
Hello, My Name Is Dave
-Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash Name Development
Mark Cuban held a variety of jobs in his youth including selling garbage bags door-to-door and being a bartender, a disco dancing instructor, and a party promoter. But one thing that frustrated him was bank overdraft fees. Now he’s helping to fund an app that claims it can help
Change Your Name Already!
-Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash Name Development
I sometimes get asked by prospective clients if they should change their name, and I help them evaluate if a change is necessary. But sometimes there are stubborn companies who persist in marketing a name that is not right. Overstock.com is a prime example of this behavior.
In early
The Careful Timing of Trademark Truncation
A recent stroll through a big box store opened my eyes to a brand of steel toe boots I hadn’t encountered before, take a look at the CAT that will be protecting my son’s toes this Summer:
CAT is an excellent example of successful trademark truncation, a single-syllable truncated brand name for the four-syllable
Trademark Butter Battle: Kerrygold v. Irishgold
You’ve probably heard of and/or eaten Kerrygold® Pure Irish Butter, a deliciously popular (but higher-priced) butter imported from Ireland, made with milk from grass-fed cows. It’s available in most stores across the United States…except for Wisconsin. Sorry to all my Wisconsin friends, you’re missing out. However, the butter is so popular that there have been
The 50% Solution
–James Mahoney, Razor’s Edge Communications
Years ago, I was washing my hands in the office men’s room. Next to me was a wheelchair-bound guy washing his at the appropriately lower sink.
I was thinking that the lower sink was a good idea when I noticed that the paper towel dispensers were all at “regular” height.
A Tipping Point For Super Bowl Advertisements?
-Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash Name Development
I was largely unimpressed with the crop of Super Bowl ads this year. It seemed to me that advertisers have chased “form over function” and have forgotten that when you spend $5 million for a 30-second ad you should probably sell some product to offset that cost. There were
Creative Acronyms Refused Sometimes…Or CARS
-Martha Engel, Attorney
Today’s offices treat acronyms like linguistic yoga (TOTALLY).
ICYMI, they’re popular also in texts, tweets, and other “thumb-talking” activities. LOL. SMH.
Legislators are having fun with them lately too, for example the Personal Rights in Names Can Endure Act (PRINCE Act), the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Owning a Cup of Trademark Transparency
Seeing this Caribou Coffee skyway billboard was a good reminder to me of how much we hear about the importance of transparency in our relationships, including those with brands we love:
It appears that the prevalence of society’s use of the word “transparency” may be at an all time high, where the