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
Trademarks and the First Amendment
Couldn’t be more pleased and thankful to collaborate and share insights on the timely topic of Trademarks, Parody, and the First Amendment, with esteemed Professor of Law Christine Farley during our upcoming Strafford webinar on Tuesday July 25, 2023, at 1 PM ET, check out the details here, hope you can join us!
Backpacks, Boycotts, Brand Bullying, Backlash, and Backcountry.com
A belated thanks to Candice Kim and Professor Leah Chan Grinvald for sharing their insights and perspectives in our recent webinar on trademark bullying.
One topic we discussed is Backcountry.com’s recent back-down to backlash over its trademark enforcement activities concerning the Backcountry mark.
The example is a harsh reminder to trademark counsel of the
Rorschach ≠ Likelihood of Confusion
One of the problems with “trademark bullying” can be a failure to comprehend the legal standard governing most trademark disputes: Likelihood of confusion.
Another is a failure to appreciate the subjective nature of whether the legal line has been crossed or whether there has been an attempted trademark overreach.
Understanding that trademark rights
Stop bullying the entrepreneurs
It’s not good marketing and I’m pretty sure it’s not good law, either.
It seems as though Entrepreneur magazine (who should know better) is working with Latham and Watkins (who should certainly know better) to persist in their relentless efforts to bully entrepreneurs to stop using the word ‘entrepreneur’.
And yes, it’s
What Is in a Name? That Which We Call Heisman; by Any Other Name Would Be Ambiguous
It’s fall, and you know what that means: football season! For many, this means a return to the couch each weekend to spectate America’s most-watched sport. But the popularity of doing so appears to be in decline. This shift isn’t only affecting the NFL, but also college football as well, as ticket sales continue
When Are You in a Lather About Trademarks?
As you know, I enjoy telling trademark stories about soaps encountered on my various trips:
Lather® (brand) soap recently caught my eye — and the lens of my iPhone — while in Palo Alto.
Interestingly, the USPTO has treated the word as inherently distinctive, in Lather’s registrations.
In other words, not merely descriptive,
Is a Wellness Brand Vaped by Nicotine?
Juut, an award-winning salon and spa founded in Minneapolis, has grown over the last 30 years, expanding into Arizona and California, with a focus not only on beauty, but health and wellness.
Juut was founded by David Wagner (author of Life as a Daymaker — How to Change the World by Making
Does Google’s Enforcement Explain New Ads?
Remember this North Memorial Health billboard ad — sporting a plain and literal Google reference — that we wrote about a few months ago, where nominative fair use was pretty clear to me?
Well, a new set of North Memorial billboard ads rolled into to the Minneapolis skyway system, just in time for
Green Bay Packers Enforce “Titletown” Mark Against High School Football News Series
Tis’ the season for football, not just on the gridiron, but also at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Shortly after the “Minneapolis Miracle,” as we reported this week, the Minnesota Vikings applied for registered marks on the phrase. And with the “big game” approaching, teams have titles on the mind–even those