News & Analysis as of

United States Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.... more +
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.    less -
Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, August 2024: What Constitutes an Abandoned Mark? How Famous is Cognac?

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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

McDermott Will & Emery

Sole Searching: Trade Dress Hopes Booted as Functional, Nondistinctive

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment grant in a trademark dispute, finding that the district court did not err in concluding that a subset of design elements lacked...more

McDermott Will & Emery

District Court Subpoena Power Plays “Supporting Role” to PTO Rules

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Addressing the subpoena power of district courts to compel evidence for use in US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) proceedings, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court’s decision (albeit on...more

Willcox & Savage

A Proposed Mark Must Have A Source Identifying Function: Trademark Denied For “Keep America Great!”

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In a non-precedential opinion; In re America in Harm’s Way; Serial No. 87976064, issued on November 30, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”), decided the issue of...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Home Away From Home: Federal Circuit Confirms PTO Domicile Requirements

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirmed the US Patent & Trademark Office’s (PTO) refusal to register a trademark based on the applicant’s failure to comply with the domicile address requirement of 37 C.F.R....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Still No Cancellation Based on Fraud, But What Next Steps Might the TTAB Take?

The Federal Circuit just “re-issued” its precedential decision in Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc. (No. 2022-1212), where it had previously reversed the USPTO’s cancellation of a registered trademark. There was no...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Federal Circuit’s Determination on Whether Fraudulent Conduct in Obtaining Incontestable Status Warrants the Mark’s Cancellation

In Great Concepts, LLC, v. Chutter, Inc., the Federal Circuit decided on whether the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board can cancel a trademark based on the inclusion of false statements in a declaration to obtain an...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

What’s in a Name? Too Much to Trademark According to the USPTO

With the U.S. Supreme Court beginning a new session, many are wondering what new issues the Court will address this term. One case the Court is scheduled to hear involves the relationship between the Lanham Act and First...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - October 2023: A Limit to Cancel Culture? Federal Circuit Finds Fraud in Connection with Section 15 Declaration...

In 2021, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled Great Concepts, LLC’s trademark registration for the mark DANTANNA’S for restaurant services under Section 14, after finding that counsel for the Registrant committed...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Cancellation of a Registered Mark Based on Fraud in Section 15 Affidavit Not Allowed

On Wednesday, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision reversing the USPTO’s cancellation of a registered trademark (Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., No. 2022-1212). As detailed in the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Hairy Situation: Trademark Act Doesn’t Provide Consumer Standing

The US Patent & Trademark Office Trademark Trial & Appeal Board found that a consumer did not have standing to oppose an application for registration because the consumer failed to establish a commercial interest and injury...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Fourth Circuit Confirms That ‘Gruyere’ is Generic for Cheese

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The appellants, Interprofession du Gruyère and Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère, are two consortiums, Swiss and French, that regulate use of the term ‘gruyere’ to refer only to cheeses produced in the Gruyère district...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

How Lizzo Helped the USPTO Identify the Source of “100% THAT B---H”

Recently, Melissa Jefferson, known professionally as Lizzo, took on the USPTO in a battle to establish trademark rights to a popular lyric from her 2017, Billboard-topping song Truth Hurts. The phrase, “100% That B—h”, which...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - February 2023

Thank you for reading the February 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss Section 2(c) of the Lanham Act in relation to the Supreme Court's pending review of the TRUMP TOO SMALL...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Oh, Fudge. TTAB Finds Curse Word Fails to Function as Trademark

The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) denied registration of several US trademark applications for the mark FUCK, even though the applicant had overcome a prohibition on the registration of “immoral or scandalous” trademarks...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Weeds Thicken: Making Sense of the Ninth Circuit’s Decision Finding Delta-8 Legal Under Federal Law

Delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8-THC) is legal under federal law. Or is it? It depends on who you ask. The Ninth Circuit has now weighed in on the issue, following the lead of several states, to conclude that Δ8-THC...more

Fenwick & West LLP

The First Amendment Trumps Another Restriction on Trademark Registrations

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On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in In Re: Elster, overturned the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to grant a trademark registration on the phrase “TRUMP TOO SMALL” for...more

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

Federal Circuit Affirms Refusal to Register Generic Top-Level Domain Trademarks

On February 2, in In re: Vox Populi Registry Ltd., the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to register a standard character mark and a stylized mark, both related to the “.sucks”...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Big Little Lies: Guidelines for Challenging Trademark Acquired Distinctiveness Claims

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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

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

A Look At Trademark Law Changes In Congress' Spending Bill

The federal trademark registration system in the U.S. is primarily premised on how a mark is used in commerce on or in connection with the provision of certain goods and services. Most U.S. trademark applicants must show the...more

Jones Day

JONES DAY TALKS®: Women in IP: 2020 in Review and a Look Toward 2021

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Jones Day's Meredith Wilkes and Anna Raimer discuss 2020's most significant developments in trademark law and preview what's to come in 2021, including possible progress in Washington on the highly anticipated Trademark...more

ArentFox Schiff

The USPTO Put Its Foot Down on Registering Master Rancher

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Is a MASTER RANCHER also the RANCHMASTER? That is the question pondered by the TTAB in this ex parte appeal. The hardware store, True Value Company, despite owning numerous registrations for “MASTER-” formative marks, was...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

The Federal Circuit: Lexmark Governs Standing For Trademark Cancellation Proceedings

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On October 27, 2020, the Federal Circuit affirmed a U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decision canceling Corcamore, LLC’s registration for the mark SPROUT. More specifically, the Federal Circuit concluded that...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

SCOTUS Weighs In: Do Two Generic Terms Equal a Trademark?

On June 30, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision regarding the trademark application of Booking.com.  In United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com, the Court held that a mark...more

McCarter & English, LLP

Book It: Supreme Court Holds Booking.com Is Registrable As A Trademark

How appropriate that the first-ever Supreme Court case to consider whether trademarks used on the internet can be registered should also be the first in which oral argument was conducted remotely. The issue in this historic...more

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