Over the years, we’ve written much about trademark bullying. When the mantle fits, and when it doesn’t. When a brand has a realistic view of its rights, and when the claimed scope is bloated.
We’ve never before written about “Ruby Tuesday,” neither the Rolling Stones’ song nor the struggling restaurant chain
As Chick-fil-A enters the Twin Cities market, it has begun another creative billboard campaign touting the “End of Burgerz — Koming Soon,” with no sign of the “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign, as of yet anyway. Bo Muller-Moore of Vermont — owner of the “Eat More Kale” trademark — probably would prefer that the
This past week I’ve been pondering a question of great importance: When might a straitjacket double as a life vest? The answer actually arrived last Monday during INTA’s “The Ethics of Trademark Bullying” panel discussion at the 135th Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.
In so many words, our good friend and wise guy
Minnesota is positioned once again to take legislative ownership of the “trademark bullying” debate. Putting aside the serious questions of whether new laws are needed and whether a state as opposed to a federal solution can have any meaningful impact, and despite the federal government’s recent focus on the perceived problem that ended
As many have written about before me, the NFL is quite protective of its rights in the SUPER BOWL trademark, so much so that some think it has earned the pejorative “trademark bully” label, so I spilled a little digital ink on the topic last year:
About a week ago I had the honor and pleasure of once again presenting the annual trademark review at the 11th Annual Midwest IP Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with good friend and trademark guru Paul Mussell. And happily, TTABlogger John Welch once again graciously contributed the IP Book chapter on the Top Ten TTAB Cases
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
– Brent Carlson-Lee, President, Open Door Foods
If you’re anything like me, you occasionally muse about being a celebrity.
If I were a movie star, I’d gladly sign autographs – even while at a restaurant with my family.
If I were the author of the hottest business book on the New York Times Best
A day doesn’t go by without my GoogleAlert spotting another online reference to some purported example of “trademark bullying.”
It seems like just about any private assertion of trademark infringement will trigger the use of the term as a very public knee-jerk response.
As you know, we’ve spilled a lot of ink, writing about the
Seth Godin is someone we follow closely here on DuetsBlog, and he has just weighed in on the “trademark bullying” topic.
We haven’t always agreed with his trademark advice, especially his misapprehension of the benefits of federal registration. But, it’s hard to argue with this conclusion: “When a brand becomes a