In Vidal v. Elster, a unanimous Supreme Court of the United States reversed the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision, holding that the Lanham Act’s names clause does not violate the First Amendment or...more
6/21/2024
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Donald Trump ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Vidal v Elster
As 2023 draws to a close, new developments continue to emerge across the patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret spaces.
Join members of McDermott’s Intellectual Property Group for a year-end review that will explore...more
12/6/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Applications ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Fair Use ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Registration ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unified Patent Court ,
Webinars
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed contributory trademark infringement for the first time, finding that specific knowledge is required for liability to attach. Y.Y.G.M. SA, DBA Brandy Melville v....more
8/3/2023
/ Appeals ,
Counterfeiting ,
Damages ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Online Marketplace ,
Remand ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Blindness
In a decision that may make it more difficult for brand owners to enforce their marks against infringers located outside of the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the judgment of the US Court of...more
7/11/2023
/ Abitron Austria GmbH v Hetronic International Inc ,
Damages ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trademark Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment grant in favor of the opposers of a certification mark application for the trademark GRUYERE to designate cheese that originates in the Gruyère region...more
The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) issued a precedential decision affirming the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) Examining Attorney’s refusal to register two different logo marks filed by southern California’s...more
Ending a hard-fought three-year campaign to secure registration of a popular handbag, the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) Trademark Trial & Appeal Board designated as precedential its decision refusing registration of the...more
Revisiting jurisprudence touching on the Lanham Act and the First Amendment from the Supreme Court’s decisions in Matal v. Tam and Iancu v. Brunetti, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that applying Sec....more
3/10/2022
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
McDermott Partner Sarah Bro takes a look at developments shaping trademark law....more
For the second time, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit examined the standard for demonstrating fraud in a party’s claim of a trademark’s acquired distinctiveness for purposes of registration under Section 2(f)...more
As reported by the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) this past summer, since mid-2020 trademark applications from US and foreign applicants have “surged to unprecedented levels.” In December 2020 alone, the PTO received...more
In a long-running trademark dispute between two charitable organizations, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that the appellee did not preserve its challenge to the district court’s denial of summary judgment...more
In a trademark infringement dispute over the brand name “METAL,” the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit resolved an issue of first impression in holding that when reviewing a grant of summary judgment on an unclean...more
The maker of BRIZZY-brand hard seltzer claimed that consumers would confuse a product branded VIZZY hard seltzer with its own. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit disagreed, however, and affirmed the...more
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the United States confirmed that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff’s trademark as a...more
4/27/2020
/ § 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
Reviewing a decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the TTAB’s affirmation of an examining attorney’s refusal to register the trademark...more
On appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the TTAB’s refusal to register a stylized form of the mark CHURRASCOS for restaurant services, finding that...more
On appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or Board), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the Board’s decision on the issue of likelihood of confusion with regard to two parties’ paw...more
Holding that a reasonable jury could find that online retailer created a likelihood of consumer confusion through the format of its product search returns, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district...more
The Supreme Court of the United States, in a unanimous decision stated that “because the tacking inquiry operates from the perspective of the ordinary purchaser or consumer, we hold that a jury should make this...more
2/27/2015
/ Hana Bank ,
Hana Financial ,
Hana Financial v Hana Bank ,
Infringement ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Jury Questions ,
Jury Trial ,
SCOTUS ,
Tacking ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Fortres Grand Corporation v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. -
The U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a trademark infringement claim, finding that a real computer software product...more
La Quinta Worldwide LLC v. Q.R.T.M., S.A. De C.V., dba Quinta Real -
While affirming trademark infringement with respect to a Mexican hotel chain’s use of its trademark in the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals...more
Lewis Bros. Bakeries, Inc. v. Interstate Brands Corp. (In re Interstate Bakeries Corp.) -
An en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed an earlier ruling of the same court finding that a...more
Airs Aromatics v. Victoria’s Secret -
Dismissing a trademark cancellation claim against Victoria’s Secret’s DREAM ANGELS trademarks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that federal trademark law...more