Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated opinion in a trademark case directed toward what it means for a trademark to be generic, and hence not subject to registration, in United States Patent and Trademark...more
7/1/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On February 7, 2020, the U.S. Trademark Office issued long-anticipated guidelines governing electronic filing and electronic communications with attorneys and trademark owners. Effective February 15, 2020, these new rules...more
2/10/2020
/ Electronic Filing ,
Email ,
New Rules ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) ,
Trademark Examination ,
Trademark Examination Guide ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Specimen ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Effective August 3, 2019, trademark applicants, registrants, and parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) proceedings domiciled outside of the United States (“foreign-domiciled”), must be represented before the...more
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Iancu v. Brunetti, No. 18-302, finding that the Lanham Act prohibition against registration of scandalous or immoral trademarks violates the First Amendment of the U.S....more
6/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
On June 24, 2019 the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Iancu v. Brunetti, No. 18-302, finding that the Lanham Act prohibition against registration of scandalous or immoral trademarks violates the First Amendment of the...more
6/24/2019
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) established new post-issuance procedures for challenging the validity of a granted patent before the Patent Trials and Appeal Board (“PTAB” or “Board”). Inter partes...more
3/22/2017
/ America Invents Act ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Estoppel ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Jurisdiction ,
Patent Agent Privilege ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Owners of U.S. trademark registrations need to know about a few recent rule changes and be mindful of the changes and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requirements whenever a declaration of use is due....more
By now, everyone has likely heard about the United Kingdom’s vote last week to leave the European Union. Few things are certain at this time, as governments around the world are still making plans to deal with Brexit....more
6/28/2016
/ Community Designs ,
EU ,
European Patent Convention ,
European Patent Office ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patents ,
Referendums ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
Pre-AIA and Post-AIA Issues Presented by the On-Sale Bar -
The “on-sale” bar to patentability refers to a sale or offer for sale of an invention that can invalidate the patent for that invention. The...more
6/7/2016
/ aBLA ,
Amended Regulation ,
America Invents Act ,
Amgen ,
Apotex ,
Appeals ,
Biosimilars ,
BPCIA ,
Commercial Marketing ,
Community Trademark ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
EU ,
Filing Fees ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Inventions ,
Notice Requirements ,
On-Sale Bar ,
Patent Dance ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prior Art ,
Public Use ,
Renewal Fees ,
Sandoz ,
Sandoz v Amgen ,
Trademark Registration ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
USPTO
On March 23, 2016, new rules came into effect substantially amending the Community trademark system in the European Union (the “amended Regulations”). Below we discuss a number of points potentially relevant to U.S. brand...more
Issues to Be Aware of When Seeking Trademark Protection -
Trademarks are valuable tools for businesses since they allow a trademark holder to identify and distinguish its goods from those manufactured or sold by others....more
12/9/2015
/ Advertising Substantiation ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Costco ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Green Guides ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Made in the USA ,
Tiffany and Company ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Truth in Advertising