Every month, Erise’s trademark attorneys review the latest developments at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in the courts, and across the corporate world to bring you the stories that you should know about: Fourth...more
Children are all too familiar with parents telling them that everything they own is actually mom and dads. And as frustrating as this is to hear as a child, a recent opinion from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s...more
Welcome to the April 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler’s MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss why it’s important for businesses to think critically about who they are listing as their trademark owners, how the TTAB...more
For years, Sports Illustrated (SI) has provided exclusive, in-depth looks into some of sports’ greatest games and players, with its voice and visuals providing great entertainment and information for sports fans around the...more
In business, trademarks are everything. It's how consumers come to know, love and trust your brand. It's a valuable corporate asset, and many disputes can arise of name rights with the explosion of e-commerce and the...more
As we previously reported, in January of this year, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published its Draft 5th Amendment to the Chinese Trademark Law. See here. One of the proposed amendments no...more
Trademarks help brand owners build and communicate their brand’s reputation and value with the relevant public. Once that valuable goodwill is linked between a mark and the owner’s products and services, trademark owners can...more
Thank you for reading the August 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we conclude our series that explores ways to lose trademark rights with an examination of naked licensing, discuss a...more
On July 18, 2023, the phrase “Taco Tuesday” was returned to the public after Taco John’s submitted a notice of abandonment for its TACO TUESDAY trademark registration before the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s...more
There are plenty of fish in the sea when it comes to trademarks: from word marks to service marks; from symbols to surnames; from product packaging to product design. When the time is right, and you feel like you have found...more
Thank you for reading the June 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we begin a three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights; share an article that examines the...more
The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) addressed, for the first time, whether the deletion of goods and services as a result of a post-registration audit during a cancellation proceeding triggers Trademark Rule 2.134 and...more
As highlighted by a recent Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) decision, Clementvision, Inc. v. Robert Clement, expressly including intellectual property rights in an estate plan can prevent complicated issues from arising....more
Under the Lanham Act, a trademark is considered abandoned “when its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use.” Three consecutive years of nonuse constitutes a prima facie showing of abandonment...more
In June 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected an application filed by Tiger Lily, a UK-based liquor company, for the use of LEHMAN BROTHERS on its whiskey bottles despite the trademark having been...more
In This Issue - Transformative Fair Use: Does Andy Warhol Qualify? On March 28, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a case concerning whether Andy Warhol’s use of Lynn...more
In theory, trademarks can last “forever.” Unlike copyrights and patents, which have finite durations defined by law, a trademark can last as long as its owner maintains it and continues to use it. As the US Patent and...more
TIGER LILY VENTURES LTD. v. BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC. Before Lourie, Bryson, and Prost. Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: A trademark associated with a...more
In the context of an opposition proceeding, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) refusal to register a trademark based on likelihood of confusion with a famous but...more
Many people believe that trademark rights can be “abandoned” or lost if the trademark owner fails to object to infringing uses of the mark, but that is not entirely accurate....more
What first started as a meme featuring a fluffy dog with poor grammar has now resulted in a trademark fight over the ownership of an estimated $80 billion brand. If the progression of this Internet sensation has left your...more
The last year has seen urgent discussions concerning racism, discrimination, police violence, inequality, and social justice come to the forefront of life in the United States. Corporate America – and its brands – responded...more
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
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
With all of the business interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many worldwide trademark offices have taken steps to recognize the issues caused by the crisis. The offices in which applicants from the U.S. most...more