Effective January 18, 2025, the USPTO will increase government fees for certain trademark and service mark related filings and requests. Fee changes relating to the Madrid Protocol designations at the USPTO and for renewals...more
On July 19, 2024, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (“USOPC”) filed a complaint against performance sports beverage company Prime Hydration, LLC (“Prime Hydration” or “Prime”) in the United States District...more
A recent decision at the Central District of California shines a bright light on the, perhaps unintended, consequences for ex-US trademark owners that choose to designate a domestic representative for service of process at...more
In a non-precedential decision1 the Federal Circuit upheld the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (“TTAB”) decision affirming that the mark “Everybody vs Racism” is not registrable as it fails to function as a trademark. As...more
In a significant decision, the Federal Circuit has clarified the weight given to third-party registrations in determining the strength of the opposer’s mark and has firmly placed the burden of showing non-use of such marks on...more
For the full background, see our prior article, Can The Parody Defense Protect Against Trademark Infringement When The Use Is Commercial In Nature? ...more
7/6/2023
/ First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Not every unauthorized use of a trademark is infringing, one such example is when a mark is used as a parody. Generally, parody is an imitation of another done for comic relief or to ridicule....more
In a precedential decision, the Federal Circuit contemplated whether a trademark applicant can establish priority for every good and service in its application by showing priority through tacking for only one of those listed...more
The battle between Thom Browne and Adidas over a striped design dates back to 2007. For over 20 years, Thom Browne has been a force in luxury fashion, bringing a unique and distinctive design aesthetic that combines classic...more
On May 5, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury published General License No. 31, which authorizes certain intellectual property-related transactions in Russia, including the filing...more
I. Introduction -
On January 5, 2022, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) published a Notice to the Federal Register detailing a new administrative process established by the Commissioner of...more
On December 7, 2020, Congress enacted the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (the “TMA”). The United States Patent & Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) recently promulgated rules implementing the TMA, which, in large part, took...more
On December 9, 2021, Haug Partners defeated two discovery motions brought by Environmental Manufacturing Solutions, LLC (“EMS”) against Fluid Energy Group Ltd. (“Fluid”), in an opposition proceeding before the U.S. Trademark...more
Is it here? Not yet. But virtual performances featuring such stars as Travis Scott and Ariana Grande and attracting over 27 million unique players and 78 million viewers, respectively, suggest that it might be coming sooner...more
11/2/2021
/ Advertising ,
Augmented Reality ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Branding ,
E-Commerce ,
Facebook ,
NASCAR ,
Service Marks ,
Social Media ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Reality
On September 17, 2021, in Beasley v. Howard, 14 F.4th 226 (3d Cir. 2021), the Third Circuit joined the Second and Ninth Circuits in ruling that prior trademark cancellation actions in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal...more
Seven Important Traits -
Attempting to value NFTs is a speculative and challenging practice, in part because they are still relatively new and there are few comparable assets. The newsletter Bankless gives seven traits to...more
7/28/2021
/ Art ,
Art Auctions ,
Art Collections ,
Artists ,
Asset Tokens ,
Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Media ,
Ethereum ,
Metadata ,
NBA ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Smart Contracts
You may have noticed that name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been hot topics in the news lately, particularly in collegiate and professional sports. This article will provide a brief...more
4/16/2021
/ Artists ,
Athletes ,
Celebrities ,
College Athletes ,
Copyright ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Right of Publicity
On Monday, April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Google in a dispute over Google’s use of Oracle’s copyrighted software in its Android platform, because the use was protected under the “fair use” doctrine....more
In a January 8, 2021 decision affirming the United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (the “Board’s”) dismissal of appellant QuikTrip West, Inc.’s (“QuikTrip’s”) opposition to Weigel Stores,...more
COVID-19 has impacted almost every aspect of society—our lives, our jobs, and our businesses. In addition to dominating decisions relating to consumer spending and purchasing, COVID-19 has created surpluses of goods,...more
1/8/2021
/ Copyright ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Branding ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Distributors ,
E-Commerce ,
Gray Market Goods ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Popular ,
Section 337 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The USPTO has published the final rule in the Federal Register establishing fee increases for electronic filings related to Trademark applications and proceedings. The changes, which go into effect on January 2, 2021, are...more
With the technological advancements being developed by artificial intelligence (“AI”), a branch of computer science wherein computers and other machines simulate human intelligence processes, AI will provide an avenue for...more
In a consolidated appeal from the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Apple, Inc. challenged the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“Board”) determination that Voip-Pal.com, Inc.’s patents were not obvious over the prior...more
Four years have passed since Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) in 2016, and federal courts have developed a new body of law based on this relatively young statute. The DTSA provides a private civil cause...more
7/16/2020
/ Asset Seizure ,
Confidential Information ,
Damages ,
Data Protection ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Ex Parte ,
Foreign Commerce ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Misappropriation ,
Nexus ,
Pleading Standards ,
Private Right of Action ,
Trade Secrets ,
Whistleblowers
Counterfeiters often act through intermediaries, including online marketplaces, social media companies, and internet service providers (“ISPs”), that may not be aware that their services are being used for infringing...more
7/11/2020
/ Actual or Constructive Knowledge ,
Contributory Infringement ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Counterfeiting ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Direct Infringement ,
DMCA ,
Duty of Care ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Indirect Infringement ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Intermediaries ,
Internet Marketing ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Landlords ,
Lanham Act ,
Liability ,
Popular ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Unfair Competition ,
United States ,
Willful Blindness