Hello DuetsBlog readers! As Steve recently said, we continue to be thankful that you’ve stuck with us, including during our pause and transition to our new firm. I’m so excited to be part of the amazing team of people at Greenberg Traurig, and to continue reaching new heights in our trademark practice.
Although our
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.
-Martha Engel, Attorney
In Monday’s decision in the newly minted Matal v. Tam case, the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit decision that the Trademark Office’s refusal to register THE SLANTS mark on disparagement grounds was unconstitutional. Many were not surprised by this decision, foreshadowed in part by the transcript of the January oral argument
-Martha Engel, Attorney
“Forties at 4” was a time-honored Friday tradition among my engineering classmates in college. After our last class, several of them would purchase Miller (if we could find it in a 40 oz) or Old English or some other malt liquor that provided the most bang for the buck. Cracking one open
-Martha Engel, Attorney
The never-ending battle at the Trademark Office over trademarks for beer and wine suffered another casualty last week, this time over the mark DUO. Applicant Uinta Brewing Company filed a use-based application to register DUO for beer. Fun fact: the Utah-based brewery owns a trademark registration for TINDER for “beer.”
Uinta Brewing
-Martha Engel, Attorney
It’s rare that we focus on descriptions of goods or services here, but one of the most common reasons that a trademark for a brewery or winery is refused registration at the Trademark Office comes down to the description of services. “Brewery services” and “winery services” are popular descriptions often used by
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
-Martha Engel, Attorney
Government approval of commercial speech has been a hot topic of discussion by trademark nerds here and elsewhere in light of recent decisions regarding the Redskins and The Slants marks. As those decisions proceed up through the appeal channels to the Supreme Court, attention has been drawn to whether or not a
-Martha Engel, Attorney
When an application has been refused registration in view of another’s prior filed mark, one way to resolve the issue is through a consent agreement wherein the registrant consents to the registration and the parties set out the reasons why the parties believe that there is no likelihood of consumer confusion between