On June 8, 2023, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of liquor distiller Jack Daniel's in its dispute over a dog toy designed to emulate the recognized whiskey bottle. Through this ruling, the Court...more
On May 16, 2023 (a Tuesday), fast food franchise Taco Bell launched its campaign to "liberate" the TACO TUESDAY trademark by filing legal petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel the...more
King cakes are a staple of Carnival season, and when the season kicks off on Twelfth Night, in New Orleans, there is hardly a day that goes by without at least one king cake in the kitchen of every office, school, and home...more
By an 8-1 vote, in United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V., 591 U.S. ____ (2020), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the addition of a generic top-level domain such as ".com" to an otherwise generic term...more
7/1/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On April 23, 2020, the United States Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., 590 U.S. ___ (2020), resolved a circuit court split by confirming that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement...more
5/11/2020
/ § 1125(a) ,
§ 1125(c) ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Dilution ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Infringement
The Immoral and Scandalous Bar to Trademark Registration is Unconstitutional -
On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court's decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. __ (2019), struck down the Lanham Act's ban on registering...more
6/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
On May 20, 2019, the Supreme Court resolved a significant issue of trademark and bankruptcy law that was decades in the making....more
5/31/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Exclusions ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
Popular ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks ,
Trustees
The U.S. Supreme Court held today that the "disparagement clause" of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional, a decision that likely settles the question of whether the Redskins football team's trademarks are registrable amidst...more
6/21/2017
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Music Industry ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
On June 18, 2014, in Amanda Blackhorse et al. v. Pro-Football, Inc., Cancellation No. 92046185 (TTAB 6/18/2014), the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) cancelled six trademark registrations issued between 1967 and 1990...more
6/19/2014
/ Blackhorse v Pro-Football ,
Disparagement ,
Football ,
Laches ,
Native American Issues ,
NFL ,
Popular ,
Redskins ,
Registration ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks