Welcome to another edition of trademark stories that are inspired by billboard advertisements:
This one was captured for obvious reasons, if you’re familiar with our interest in brandverbing:
We’ve written quite a bit over the years about the Spectrum of Distinctiveness for trademarks, and the all-important difference between suggestive marks and merely descriptive ones, with only the former being allowed immediate rights based on first use.
Creativity is what separates the power of suggestion from the weakness and limbo of descriptiveness.
The headline might be considered old news to some, but since intellectual property attorneys from around the world will be descending upon Minneapolis for the remainder of the week, and since I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the American Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Meeting at the Minneapolis Hilton, on the history and public policy
Combing through the USPTO’s recently approved non-verbal trademark registrations revealed this little gem with Francis Ford Coppola’s name on the label (but not claimed as part of the mark):
Here is the USPTO drawing on the left, showing the claimed mark without any words or colors:
So, besides claiming a broader scope of rights
–Sharon Armstrong, Attorney
Kingsley Amis, that lauded British humorist and man of letters, once said that “a German wine label is one of the things life’s too short for, a daunting testimony to that peculiar nation’s love of detail and organization.” Indeed, as a recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out, it