In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a rule that the combination of a generic term and a generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) is per se generic. See USPTO v. Booking.com B.V., 140 S. Ct. 2298 (2020) (“Booking.com”). In...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has updated the deadline to respond to Office Actions for trademark applications. As of December 3, 2022, trademark applicants now have three months (instead of the...more
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (CAFC) recently held that “color marks” (i.e., trademarks consisting solely of one or more colors without words or designs) can be inherently distinctive, vacating a 2018 Trademark Trial...more
In the span of just over a decade, social media has transformed the way consumers interact with their favorite brands. According to recent estimates, there are over two billion active monthly users of Facebook alone. ...more
In a recent precedential opinion, the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled that a trademark consisting of multiple colors, as applied to product packaging, cannot...more
On May 25, 2018, regulations went into effect that limit the amount of WHOIS information that is publicly available online. An article on our website provides background on that issue and the recent efforts by the Internet...more
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect, establishing new restrictions on the use and publication of personal information. The GDPR has broad application,...more
In the United States, copyright owners have a number of exclusive rights, including the right to publicly display a work of visual art. This would include, for instance, the right to post a copyrighted photograph on a...more
In the past few years, many trademark practitioners have noticed an increase in the number of rejections for trademark specimens – the documents that applicants submit to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)...more
On October 20, 2017, Hard Candy LLC applied to register #METOO as a trademark for cosmetics and fragrances. The application was likely to be rejected. As the hashtag for a social movement, #METOO does not function as a...more
Comedian John Oliver’s antics rarely stop with his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight.” After discovering Donald Trump’s ancestral name, Drumpf, John Oliver dedicated an entire segment to disassociating Donald Trump from his TRUMP...more
Art often lives on long after the artist, serving as the artist’s legacy for generations. After an extraordinary career, Prince Rogers Nelson, suddenly passed away on April 21, 2016. He leaves a legacy of undisputable...more
Campaign season makes ripe political commentary. On February 28, 2016, comedian John Oliver featured a segment on his show “Last Week Tonight” about the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump....more