The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a district court’s summary judgment grant in favor of a fine jewelry producer for trademark infringement, counterfeiting and unfair competition because factual disputes...more
Taking on issues of functionality and fame relating to trade dress rights, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment after a jury trial on claims of...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint seeking a declaration of trademark abandonment, finding that the plaintiff (the co-owner of an online business that sells to customers in...more
In the midst of an unprecedented and unsettling global pandemic, one constant remains: certain entrepreneurial-minded folks will not miss the opportunity to file trademark applications for new “brands” that align with 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 United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the Board’s refusal to register a trademark consisting of a gradient...more
Relying on Supreme Court precedent, the Federal Circuit overturned the USPTO’s refusal to register a multi-color trademark for product packaging, holding that color marks can be inherently distinctive depending upon the...more
Trademark jurisprudence in 2019 may be best summarized in two words: questions and answers. Decisions handed down at the district court level have teed up key questions that are poised to be answered by the United States...more
Concluding that a terminated exclusive trademark licensee failed to establish the elements required to impose a preliminary injunction, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of a...more
1/3/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Exclusive Licenses ,
Injunctions ,
Irreparable Harm ,
License Agreements ,
Licensees ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reversal ,
Termination ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks
In a 6–3 opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a 2017 US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision holding the ban on registration of immoral or scandalous trademarks under the Lanham Act to be an...more
8/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
In finding a fair use defense and no “likelihood of confusion” in a cosmetics trademark infringement dispute, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit also considered, as an issue of first impression, whether the Seventh...more
7/11/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cosmetics ,
Disgorgement ,
Fair Use ,
Jury Trial ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Statutory Damages ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair Competition
A 6-3 opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States in Iancu v. Brunetti affirmed a Federal Circuit 2017 decision. Both rulings found the ban on the registration of immoral or scandalous trademarks under the Lanham Act...more
6/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
Affirming the district court’s summary judgment ruling on the protectability of the trademark BOOKING.COM, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit weighed in on the somewhat controversial issue of the genericness of a...more
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
In a trademark dispute stemming from a 2011 viral video and internet meme titled “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger,” the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the defendant greeting card companies,...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that the defendant’s use of the names “Old Taylor” and “the Former Old Taylor Distillery” (collectively, the Old Taylor names) to refer to its property and future bourbon...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment finding that a specific element from a television series—in this case, The Krusty Krab restaurant from SpongeBob SquarePants—can receive...more
Following the Supreme Court of the United States’ 2017 decision in Matal v. Tam (i.e., the Slants case) finding the proscription on the registration of disparaging trademarks under § 2(a) of the Lanham Act to be an...more
2/6/2018
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In relation to a long-fought and contentious trademark dispute involving the COMIC CON mark, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a brief but definitive opinion, finding that certain district-court-ordered...more
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) delivered a primer on demonstrating the acquired distinctiveness of product packaging or trade dress, including color marks, in refusing registration of a trademark application for...more
Examining the issue of trademark fair use, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court grant of summary judgment in favor of a promotional products company and remanded the case for reconsideration...more
In an 8–0 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed an en banc panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and found the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act to be facially unconstitutional...more
7/11/2017
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Music Industry ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made a point to remind trademark litigants of the relevant laws and policies pertaining to trademark “genericide” when it sustained summary judgment in favor of ubiquitous search...more
A unanimous decision from the Supreme Court of the United States in Matal v. Tam affirmed an en banc panel of the Federal Circuit and found the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act to be facially unconstitutional under the...more
6/22/2017
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In a case stemming from a trademark dispute involving a beauty line owned by the Kardashian sisters, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration filed by...more