Since November 30, 2021, we’ve anxiously been waiting for the Federal Circuit to decide the Chutter appeal and determine whether the TTAB was correct in lowering the standard for proving trademark fraud from the far more difficult specific intent to deceive the U.S. Trademark Office standard under Bose, to the much easier to
Supreme Court to Decide if Marks With Scandalous Matter May Be Registered
Last Friday, the Supreme Court decided it will hear the Brunetti case, and take a closer look at Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the portion forbidding federal registration of trademarks having matter that is scandalous or immoral.
So, it appears my big prediction for 2019 is pointing in the affirmative direction:
“In terms
Chief Justice John Roberts Talks Trademarks
It’s not every day you’re presented with the unique opportunity of seeing and hearing the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court live in your own backyard, thanks very much Caleb!
Tuesday was that day, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. was here in Minneapolis for the 2018 Stein Lecture at the University
On Slanted Arguments and Red Herrings
Last Friday, both slanted arguments and red herrings were present during the 90 minute en banc oral argument before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in In re Tam.
The question invited by the CAFC to be addressed in Tam is whether Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act’s prohibition on the
Trademarks That Violate Public Policy
As our friend John Welch reported last week, the place to be on March 10, 2015, is Washington, D.C., at the 25th Annual “PTO Day,” sponsored by the Intellectual Property Owners Association:
John will be part of the panel update on TTAB practice, and I’ll be providing the overview of Section 2(a)
Trademark Pronunciation Revisited
Remember this little gem on trademark pronunciation from the DuetsBlog archives two years ago?
Judging from a search of Google, the JD Supra version of this post has gotten lots of traction.
Well, a few weeks ago the Court of Appeals for the
Pretzel Crisps Genericness Decision Appealed
A couple of months ago you will recall that the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) held “Pretzel Crisps” generic for pretzel crackers.
Here are links to our previous coverage of the case:
- Packaging that Kills (a Trademark)
- Crisps = Chips = Crackers?
- A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
- Tie Goes to
Millions of False TM Notices to Remove?
A hot dog is a type of sandwich, and “footlong” denotes a type, category, or class of sandwiches (those measuring about a foot in length), making “footlong” a generic term and part of the public domain — incapable of serving as a trademark for any kind of
Gone Fishing, in Sin City
Spring break brings my family to Las Vegas this year; when we made the plans, we never anticipated leaving behind better weather in Minneapolis, especially this time of year. Oh, well. At least it isn’t slowing down our hiking adventures in the amazing Red Rock Canyon area.
Meanwhile, closer to the strip and all
Trademark Fraud No More?
Just over two years ago, we reported on the CAFC’s landmark trademark fraud decision of In re Bose, here, here, and here.
In addition, I wrote a piece for Thomson Reuters’ Client Times Online called True Lies, Trademark Fraud, and the Medinol Detour: The Federal Circuit Reverses In re Bose."
Our friend