The June 13, 2024, U.S. Supreme Court decision in Vidal v. Elster made waves in the trademark community. All of the Court’s decisions are significant, and this matter was of particular interest because the decision marked the...more
6/18/2024
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Donald Trump ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Political Affiliation ,
Public Figures ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Vidal v Elster
Thank you for reading the February 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the advertising rights of luxury resellers and important updates to the Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy...more
3/1/2024
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Counterfeiting ,
Damages ,
Discovery ,
False Advertising ,
First Sale Doctrine ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Petrella v. MGM ,
SCOTUS ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair Competition
The Bad Spaniels and MetaBirkin cases clarify that artistic expression is no foolproof defense to trademark infringement.
Brand owners welcomed the decision the US Supreme Court rendered in Jack Daniel's Properties Inc....more
7/3/2023
/ Dilution ,
Fair Use ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Spoofing ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Thank you for reading the June 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we begin a three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights; share an article that examines the...more
6/30/2023
/ Abandonment ,
Abitron Austria GmbH v Hetronic International Inc ,
Advertising ,
Dilution ,
First Amendment ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Marketing ,
Parody ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Vacated
The US Supreme Court ruled today in the closely watched Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc. case, which considered whether a party could recover in US courts for trademark infringement that occurred outside...more
6/30/2023
/ Abitron Austria GmbH v Hetronic International Inc ,
Bad Actors ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trademark Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated
Brand owners are hailing as a win the US Supreme Court’s decision rendered on June 8, 2023, in the closely watched Jack Daniel's Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC case. The dispute involved a dog toy made to mimic the Jack...more
6/12/2023
/ First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Thank you for reading the May 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss Taco Bell's attempt to cancel two TACO TUESDAY trademark registrations, and a precedential TTAB decision...more
6/1/2023
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Artists ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Copyright ,
Drug Paraphernalia ,
Functionality ,
Generic Marks ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Transformative Use ,
USPTO
The June 30th Supreme Court decision in Booking.com held that generic terms coupled with top-level domain names can be eligible for trademark registration. This decision is a win for brand owners as it reinforces how – in the...more
7/14/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
The June 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter leads with breaking news of today's Supreme Court's decision in favor of Booking.com. Other topics discussed include copyright applications covering a...more
7/8/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Copyright Applications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Prioritized Examination ,
Scams ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On April 23, 2020, Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered a unanimous opinion in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., clarifying that a Lanham Act provision does not require a plaintiff to prove that acts of infringement are...more
5/10/2020
/ § 1125(a) ,
§ 1125(c) ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Dilution ,
Disgorgement ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Mens Rea ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Infringement
The April 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a precedential Federal Circuit ruling about color marks for product packaging, takeaways from a recent Supreme Court decision regarding when an...more
5/5/2020
/ Burden of Proof ,
Color Marks ,
Damages ,
Dilution ,
Domain Names ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Willful Infringement
The “soft” IP world is looking forward to rulings in six trademark and copyright cases this term, far more than in recent years, and all of which address points of uncertainty that will impact trademark and copyright...more
2/10/2020
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Allen v Cooper ,
Annotated Case Law ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act ,
Copyrightable Subject Matter ,
Fair Use ,
Generic Marks ,
Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org Inc ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Oracle v Google ,
Profits ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Software ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
Willful Infringement
The January 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses the following topics:
- The TTAB's affirmation to refuse a mark to distillery Jos. A. Magnus & Co.;
- Six trademark and copyright cases...more
The June 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter addresses the implications of blockchain-based names, and discusses negotiation tips for junior users entering into coexistence agreements. It also features...more
Much has been made of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, Case No. 17-1657 (May 20, 2019), which resolved a long-standing split in the circuits as to whether a bankrupt...more
6/4/2019
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Branding ,
Debtors ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks
The May 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter addresses implications for bankrupt trademark owners following the Supreme Court's decision in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC....
...more
The March 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter addresses a Supreme Court ruling about suing for copyright infringement, the 2018 Farm Bill and CBD products, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise Period.
In...more
4/3/2019
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Trademark Register ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
gTLD ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
U.S. trademark attorneys received a New Year’s surprise last month when the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Iancu v. Brunetti, the case that should determine the availability of federal trademark...more
3/5/2019
/ Burden of Proof ,
Certiorari ,
Compelling Governmental Interest ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Lee v Tam ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Invalidity ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The February 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses IP protection for cannabis products, the fate of scandalous and immoral trademark registrations, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise Period.
In...more
3/2/2019
/ Cannabis Products ,
Domain Names ,
gTLD ,
ICANN ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademarks
The July 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses how to maintain rights in core trademarks as brands evolve, a reminder regarding importer and exporter liability for shipping counterfeit goods,...more
8/1/2018
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Counterfeiting ,
Domain Names ,
Exports ,
gTLD ,
Imports ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademarks
The Supreme Court’s June 19, 2017 decision in the Matal v. Tam case has been burning-up the news wires all week. The decision struck down a 70-year-old ban on federally registering disparaging trademarks, finding that the...more
7/5/2017
/ Brand Registry ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Matal v Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Many commentators have weighed-in on the Supreme Court's recent Hana Financial decision, which involved two competing HANA-formative marks for financial services, including one that had been modified over the years to couple...more
The February issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter provides takeaways from the Supreme Court's Hana Financial decision, identifies a new anti-counterfeiting tool for owners of Canadian trademarks and...more
On March 25, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lexmark International Inc. v. Static Control Components Inc., holding that a two-prong analysis comprised of the "zone-of-interests" test and a "proximate-cause"...more
The April issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter contains a cautionary tale regarding use of social media, a clarified test for false advertising standing, updates to Canada's Trade-marks Act, and an updated...more
4/29/2014
/ Canada ,
Domain Names ,
False Advertising ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
Lexmark ,
Right of Publicity ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademarks