In a fifty-seven-page memorandum opinion and order, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a fashion brand its motion for a preliminary injunction preventing its lead designer from...more
3/18/2021
/ Advertising ,
Arrangement and Promotion ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Instagram ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Name and Likeness ,
Personality Rights ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Social Media ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
TRO
On September 30, 2020, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of the assignee of the famous LEHMAN BROTHERS trademark against the registration that mark as a brand name for beer, spirits, and bar and restaurant...more
10/8/2020
/ Abandonment ,
Barclays ,
Evidence ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lehman Brothers ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Priority Disputes ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Expiration ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
As cannabis products become legal in more and more states, commercial interest grows in protecting the trademarks associated with those products. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has maintained its refusal to...more
3/16/2020
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Common Law Claims ,
Counterclaims ,
Cross Motions ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Foods ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Plant Based Products ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Priority Disputes ,
Retail Market ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Cancellation ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
USPTO
In a precedential decision involving the “doctrine of foreign equivalents,” the Board found no likelihood of confusion between the mark RICHARD MAGAZINE for a website in the field of fashion and lifestyle and the mark RICARDO...more
The Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) decision refusing registration of an athletic apparel company’s trademark, holding that the trademark applicant waived its key arguments by not raising...more
9/9/2019
/ Appeals ,
Brand ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
Oral Argument ,
Sports Apparel ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Waiver of Rights
The Federal Circuit recently sustained the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (“TTAB” or the “Board”) refusal to register Louis Vuitton Malletier’s (“LVM”) trademark APOGÉE for perfumes, a decision that will concern...more
7/17/2019
/ Cosmetics ,
Fashion Branding ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Louis Vuitton ,
Personal Care Products ,
Retail Market ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
According to the Federal Circuit, the skinny on the term “Thins” is that it may be generic for thinly cut snack crackers. Real Foods Pty Ltd. V. Frito-Lay North America, Inc., (October 4, 2018 Fed. Cir.)....more
10/16/2018
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Frito-Lay ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”) was forced to pay a big toll when the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”), dismissed its opposition to a pizza restaurant’s...more
5/30/2018
/ Intellectual Property Protection ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Logos ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Transportation Industry
In a 54 page decision issued on September 6, 2017, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) ended (again) a long-standing dispute between snack food makers Frito-Lay, Inc. (“Frito”) and Princeton Vanguard, LLC...more
The Supreme Court denied review of the 2d Circuit decision on the Stolichnaya trademark....more
The Southern District of New York recently booted shoe manufacturer LVL XIII Brands, Inc.’s trade dress infringement suit against Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. in LVL XIII Brands, Inc. v. Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A.. At issue...more
9/22/2016
/ Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Louis Vuitton ,
Retail Market ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In an important decision delineating the boundaries of fair use of another person’s trademark, the Second Circuit announced a standard by which nominative fair use of a trademark will be evaluated in that Circuit in...more
Belmora LLC filed a petition for reconsideration en banc of the Fourth Circuit’s FLANAX decision in Belmora LLC v Bayer Consumer Care AG, Appeal No. 15-1335 (4th Cir. March 23, 2016). As we previously have blogged...more
Recently, a District Court judge issued a scathing rebuke to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama et al. v. Houndstooth Mafia Enterprises LLC, (N.D. Alabama February...more
The Second Circuit recently issued its latest ruling in a long-running legal battle over the trademark rights to the STOLICHNAYA trademark. In this latest decision in the 12-year dispute, the Court ruled that an agency of the...more
In a ruling bound to please 15 year-old boys everywhere, the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) reversed the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the trademark NUT SACK DOUBLE BROWN ALE (in standard character...more
11/5/2015
/ Beer ,
Breweries ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Lanham Act ,
Offensive Language ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Wine & Alcohol ,
Young Lawyers
In The North Face Apparel Corp. v. Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd., Opp. No. 91187593 (September 18, 2015), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) handed The North Face Apparel Corp. (“The North Face”) significant victories...more
9/30/2015
/ Automotive Industry ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Motion to Amend ,
Retail Market ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
The number of successful oppositions against trademark applications based on a claim that the applicant had “no bona fide intent to use” has been increasing in recent years. On September 10, 2015, in Swiss Grill Ltd. v. Wolf...more
This case arose from GS Enterprises, LLC’s (“GS”) opposition to the registration of Juice Generation, Inc.’s (“Juice Generation”) trademark. In finding a likelihood of confusion with GS’s marks, the Board below reasoned that...more
The Second Circuit ruled last week in favor of Plaintiff Marcel Fashion Group Inc. (“Marcel”), vacating the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. (“Lucky Brand”), which had...more