Trademark owners may howl at the artistic and humorous use of their marks by someone else, but that use might be protected as fair use. Trademark owners’ ears perked up at an appeals court holding last year that parody is a...more
If you are considering filing a new trademark application or maintaining an existing registration, you may want to file your submission before the end of 2020. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will...more
As lawyers for start-up and emerging-growth companies, we see a range of disputes between founders and costly missteps that could have been avoided with proper planning and good advice. The ownership of intellectual property...more
While many states have legalized or decriminalized cannabis products, the federal government still considers these products to be illegal. Thus, as people are often surprised to learn, federal trademark protection for these...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has announced that all foreign trademark applicants and registrants and all parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings must be represented by a U.S.-licensed...more
George Carlin famously observed that there are seven words you can’t say on TV. Erik Brunetti didn’t get the message and thus sought to register a trademark for a line of clothing called “FUCT.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark...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
The United Kingdom is likely to exit the European Union on either March 29, 2019, or on December 31, 2020, depending on whether there is “a deal” (there’s always a chance the parties extend the negotiations or the UK revokes...more
2/11/2019
/ Copyright ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cross-Border ,
Data Privacy ,
EU ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO)
Suppose you walk into a greasy cheeseburger joint and ask for a Coke®. A cook who looks remarkably like the late John Belushi doesn’t say, “No Coke; Pepsi.” Instead, he says, “You want Coke? Have a Pepsi!” and you buy the...more
You may think there is no value in chasing domain name squatters because customers find your website through search engines, but consider squatters as internal and external security risks. A constantly evolving threat, there...more
6/24/2015
/ Cybersecurity ,
Cybersquatting ,
Domain Names ,
Email ,
Hackers ,
Phishing Scams ,
Scams ,
Trademarks ,
UDRP ,
Uniform Rapid Suspension ,
Websites
In a recent case that will raise the stakes for companies involved in contentious administrative trademark proceedings, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the administrative tribunal, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board...more