Coca-Cola settled on its famous contour bottle design almost 100 years ago, in 1916, after several years of trials with other far less distinctive shapes (at least under today’s standards)...more
5/20/2013
- Coca Cola Trademarks
This past week I’ve been pondering a question of great importance: When might a straitjacket double as a life vest? The answer actually arrived last Monday during INTA’s “The Ethics of Trademark Bullying” panel discussion at...more
5/13/2013
- Trademark Bullying Trademarks
So-called “fluid” trademarks are gaining a recent downpour of attention – on Monday INTA wrote about them in the Daily News distributed in Dallas at INTA’s 135th Annual Meeting, it also held a panel discussion on the topic...more
5/8/2013
- Fluid Trademarks Trademarks
It’s that time of year again. The fishing opener in Minnesota is upon us this coming Saturday, so Rapala is sporting its new billboard advertisement....more
5/7/2013
- Advertising Design Patent Trademarks
OfficeMax has been sporting its friendly and colorful rubber band ball brand signal on billboard advertising and delivery trucks for some time, but yesterday is the first time I’ve noticed prominent static use of the bouncy...more
5/2/2013
- Marketing Trademarks
With all the golf coverage of the Masters Tournament and the coveted Green Jacket, this past weekend, it seemed particularly appropriate to report on a recent trademark case involving the miniature variety of golf: Putt-Putt,...more
4/15/2013
- Brand Generic Golf Trademarks
It has been almost six months since oral argument before the TTAB over the question of whether the word “footlong” is a trademark or a generic name for a type of sandwich. What type of sandwich you ask? One about twice as...more
3/11/2013
- Brand Subway Trademarks
Remember how important it is to stay on the right side of the suggestive/descriptive line when it comes to making proper use of a brand name?...more
2/25/2013
- Brand Trademarks USPTO
If you were a Band-Aid brand adhesive bandage, and you were cut, would you protect yourself?
Brent, sorry I couldn’t help myself, I’m still enjoying your Louis Vuitton waffle-maker post.
With that intro, let’s turn...more
2/18/2013
- Band-Aid Brand Genericide Trademarks
As many have written about before me, the NFL is quite protective of its rights in the SUPER BOWL trademark, so much so that some think it has earned the pejorative ”trademark bully” label, so I spilled a little digital ink...more
1/28/2013
- NFL Super Bowl Trademark Bullying Trademarks
Earlier this month, we asked whether [yo]gurt(lab) has an inherently distinctive interior restaurant environment?
This week, we’re focused on product packaging, and ask whether Spine Vodka has enough meat on the bones...more
1/14/2013
- Inherently Distinctive Product Packaging Trademarks
It has been a while since we’ve added another page to the Genericide Watch, so a little trip to Candyland, the Twin Cities’ local iconic and old fashioned candy shop, didn’t disappoint...more
1/7/2013
- Brand Generic Trademarks USPTO
With the constant stream of news reporting about the impending “fiscal cliff,” how can there be no U.S. federal trademark filings containing those two terms, at the moment anyway?...more
1/2/2013
- Fiscal Cliff Trademarks
So, last Friday we covered this story: Critics Flush New University of California Logo.
Now, we can report that the next morning, the Los Angeles Times wrote this story: Maligned UC Logo Shelved; “Time to Move On,”...more
12/20/2012
- Logos Trademarks
Would you place this mouth wash bottle on your bathroom counter or hide it under the counter?
The answer to this question, it appears, can have a material impact on whether the shape and design of the bottle functions as...more
12/18/2012
- Proctor & Gamble Trademarks USPTO
How about a little levity for your weekend preparations?
There has been a great deal of discussion among those interested in the brand new and increasingly controversial University of California logo appearing on the...more
12/17/2012
- Brand Logos Trademarks University of California
Knowing how Adidas (or should I say, adidas) jealously guards its three stripe design on shoes, and is notorious for protecting against not only three, but two and four stripe buffers as well, my eyes were drawn to this...more
12/17/2012
- Adidas Logos Nike Trademarks
D + What = Diet Coke?
Let’s file this brand truncation example under the AlphaWatch category, even though there is some other stuff going on here too....more
12/7/2012
- Trademarks
