News & Analysis as of

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Young Lawyers

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

10 Trademark Cases About Yo Mama

Anna Jarvis led the efforts to establish the first official celebration of Mother’s Day in 1908, during which she honored her own mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, a Civil War-era social activist. But about a dozen years after...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Marijuanaville v. Margaritaville: Registering Trademarks For Chemically Induced Mental Paradises

Although marijuana is becoming legal to varying degrees in an increasing number of states, your chances of getting a marijuana trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) are still grim. In...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

McNees 2016 In Review – Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents

The year 2016 saw interesting and diverse developments in trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent law. Not only has intellectual property news been in the headlines, but these areas have made it to the Supreme Court....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Change is Coming: New Rules for TTAB Opposition and Cancellation Proceedings

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently issued final rules amending the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Rules of Practice and raising fees for many transactions involving trademarks. The new rules and fees...more

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Client Alert: New TTAB Rule Changes Take Effect in 2017

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), which decides issues of trademark registrability, recently sought comments regarding certain rule changes to the TTAB Rules of Practice. On October 7, 2016, the U.S. Patent and...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Can “Merry Christmas” Be A Trademark For Christmas Wrapping?

In 1905, the owners of Smith & Kaufman, Inc., a ribbon & silk company in New York, hit upon an idea. Wouldn’t it be great, they thought, if we made a red holiday ribbon for wrapping Christmas presents, with the words “Merrie...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

A Tale Of Two Hats: Trademark “Use In Commerce” Expanded In A Potentially Game-Changing Decision

Our readers no doubt understand that trademark use is the basis for trademark protection in the U.S. But all use is not created equal, and sometimes it’s not so easy to tell whether a trademark is actually used in a manner...more

Morgan Lewis

An Attempt at Efficiency: A Look at the TTAB’s Upcoming Rule Changes

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The rule changes are aimed at streamlining proceedings before the TTAB. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or the Board) will implement several important rule changes as of January 14, 2017. The changes will...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

The Pleads Of The Many: 50 Years of Star Trek Lawsuits

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of the original series of Star Trek, which first aired on NBC in September 1966. On July 22, this milestone will be marked in earnest when Paramount Pictures releases...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

DICKMAN’S Pickles: Just Another Unregistrable Surname

The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has, again, explained how and when surnames may function as trademarks. In re Enumclaw Farms LLC, Application Serial No. 85942195 (TTAB June 24, 2016). ...more

Dentons

Beer Lawyers Rally to Stop Federal Registration of the Mark "CRAFT BEER ATTORNEY"

Dentons on

You know you’re in for a fight when 14 different law firms come together to launch an opposition--an administrative proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board--against registration of your trademark application....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Who Should Own a Trademark Registration? The Case of the Not-So-Related Parent Company

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A recent precedential Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision provides valuable guidance on the proper allocation of trademark registration ownership as between a corporate parent and a subsidiary, highlighting the perils...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

What’s That Sound? It Might Just Be a Trademark.

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Trademarks are not only words or logos, but can come in many other forms, including sounds. In the words of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in the case In re Gen. Electric Broad. Co., 199 USPQ 560, 563 (TTAB 1978),...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Federal Judge vs. TTAB – Trademark Battle over Bear Bryant’s Houndstooth Hat

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The case of The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama and Paul W. Bryant, Jr. v. Houndstooth Mafia Enterprises LLC et al. showcases an unusual clash between a federal judge and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Although Healthy Hemp May do Many Things, It Does Not Function As a Trademark

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In a non-precedential decision in In re French Meadow Organic Bakery LLC, Serial No 86243820 (February 4 2016), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) held that HEALTHY HEMP was merely descriptive of “bakery goods;...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

No Room at the USPTO: TTAB Rejects Booking.com Trademarks As Generic

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Many online businesses prefer to use domain names that communicate as clearly and concisely as possible the types of goods and services offered on their websites. That may be good marketing strategy. But as a recent decision...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Skippy Still Hates Peanut Butter: TTAB Denies Petition To Cancel 1947 Trademark Registration . . . Again

Two years ago in March, in honor of National Peanut Month, we recounted the truly epic struggle for the SKIPPY mark between the once-iconic cartoon character and the still-iconic peanut butter brand. The story began nearly 90...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

TTAB Finds That Coexistence Agreement Does Not Support Coexistence

In a decision bound to impact trademark prosecution practice in the future, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) recently found that a consent agreement between a...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

The Hound’s-Tooth Bites Back: The Ghost of Paul “Bear” Bryant

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

Knobbe Martens

2015 IP Law Year In Review

Knobbe Martens on

Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 1920 (May 26, 2015) - ..Does a defendant’s belief that a patent is invalid serve as a defense to charges of inducing infringement? NO - ..Inducement requires...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Seattle Seahawks’ Star Running Back Marshawn Lynch Scores a Federal Trademark Registration—Did The Examiner Misread The Playbook?

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Various media outlets were abuzz recently about how Marshawn Lynch received a federal trademark registration for “I’m Just Here So I Won’t Get Fined” for t-shirts and other apparel items. He uttered that phrase more than 20...more

WilmerHale

Belmora v. Bayer: Does the Lanham Act Protect An Owner of a Well-Known Foreign Mark From Intentional Misuse of the Mark in the...

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In Belmora LLC v. Bayer Consumer Care AG,1 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is faced with novel issues about the reach of the Lanham Act. The case arose from Bayer’s filing of a petition to cancel Belmora’s...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

A Trademark Year in Wine and Beer 2015: Our Holiday Buyer’s Guide to Disputed Beverages

Just in time for the holiday season, we present our second annual Trademark Year in Wine and Beer. Whether you are planning a holiday party or just having some friends over, you are probably in the market for some liquid...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

TTAB Makes Double Brown Ale Open to Nut Sack Mark

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

McDermott Will & Emery

Thirty Years’ Use of Mark Is Not Enough to Prove Acquired Distinctiveness if Evidence Is Insufficient - In re Louisiana Fish Fry...

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Addressing the issue of distinctiveness, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) decision to deny registration of a plaintiff’s mark due to the dearth of evidence supporting the plaintiff’s...more

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