As you may recall, last September we wrote about Coca-Cola’s Significant Interest in Zero Marks, discussing Coca-Cola’s defense of a trademark infringement suit brought by an individual named Mirza Baig, who claimed rights in “Naturally Zero” for Canadian natural spring water, and Coca-Cola’s contrasting attempts to own and federally-register various marks containing the term
Hanging Around Trademark Disputes
When you hang around trademark disputes long enough you start to see patterns, at least, at the ends of the spectrum (or not).
We have spilled much digital ink over allegations of “trademark bullying” — something that does occur, but in the grand scheme of all trademark enforcement matters, the instances
Trademark Victims?
Hardly a day goes by without the media reporting on some sort of trademark dispute. Enter the need for a winner and a loser, a bully and a victim.
You know the typical media drill by now, Goliath is the trademark owner and a guilty bully, and David, of course, is an innocent victim, lacking
Putting the Shoe on the Other Tootsie
There was a time when a certain kind of small business owner — strapped for cash — with a meager promotional budget, easily could be tempted to adopt a “clever” name, as a “short-cut,” to “play off” a well-known, iconic brand, but in the end, he or she probably was convinced by counsel that doing
INTELligent Trademark Enforcement?
What is the difference between a semiconductor computer chip maker and an electrician?
Not much, at least when both have the word “intel” in their business names, according to a Complaint (complete with Exhibits) filed last Thursday in Minnesota federal district court, by Intel Corporation a/k/a Chipzilla, against a pair of
Lion’s Tap Reaches “Mutually Beneficial” Settlement with McDonalds
A couple of hours ago Kare 11 News in Minneapolis reported "Lions Tap wins settlement with McDonalds."
Absolutely no details about the settlement were provided, so it’s hard to understand how Kare 11 is able to pronounce this as a "win" for Lion’s Tap over McDonalds, although it certainly plays into the seductive David and Goliath
David Takes on Goliath
Reverse confusion trademark infringement claims are sometimes reminiscent of the well-known biblical story of David versus Goliath. This doctrine basically protects smaller, lesser known, trademark owners whose trademarks are infringed upon by large multi-national companies with gigantic advertising budgets. You may want to check out a few prior posts on DuetsBlog relating to Lion’s Tap