How To Select a Strong Trademark
On 8 November 2025, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ("EUIPO") adopted the new Common Practice on the Distinctive Character of Slogans ("CP17"), marking a significant step towards the harmonization of...more
“What’s in a name?” That which we call a good, by any other name, would it be as valuable? Conceiving a trademark is much like crafting a poem – it should be original, distinctive, and memorable. Like Shakespeare’s language,...more
If your mark is descriptive and lacks secondary meaning, the Principal Register may not be an option. But there’s still a path to protection: the Supplemental Register. The USPTO maintains two federal trademark registers....more
Registering your trademark is crucial for defending your intellectual property. However, the USPTO will not grant full registration to trademarks that are overly descriptive of the goods or services that the mark represents....more
Picking a new business name? A trademark is more than just a logo — it’s your brand identity. If you invest in a weak or unregistrable name, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may refuse registration. That...more
As any marketing expert will tell you, the best trademarks are both creative and unique. Such “strong” trademarks are more memorable and set a product apart from competitors’ products....more
In trademark law, distinctiveness is key. The more distinctive a mark, the stronger its legal protection—and the easier to register and enforce the mark. Trademark law classifies marks along a spectrum of distinctiveness,...more
In Karneolis LTD v. EU Intellectual Property Office and Match Group LLC,[1] the EU General Court ruled in favour of Match Group LLC, the dating app conglomerate that owns and operates, among others, Tinder, Hinge, and...more
In this episode of The Upper Brand, Kristine Young and Rich Assmus discuss the recent Federal Circuit case regarding the doctrine of foreign equivalents in trademark law. They explore the concepts of descriptiveness and...more
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Heritage Alliance v. American Policy Roundtable, Case No. 24-1155 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 9, 2025), provides a salient reminder to brand owners seeking to build value in descriptive trademarks...more
Suppose you want to register a trademark that identifies a source of goods/services for your business. What if the trademark describes an ingredient, quality, feature, function, characteristic, or purpose of your...more
On June 26, 2024, the Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business (the Regulation) was published in the Gazette officielle du Québec. Since then, the Office québécois de la...more
Building a strong and distinctive brand identity for your business is crucial for driving sales, fostering consumer loyalty, and standing out in any industry, and more so for emerging and rapidly evolving sectors such as...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a senior party mark but found that the district court committed clear error in finding that a similar junior party mark was valid. The Fifth Circuit also found that the...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion based on an erroneous evaluation of the strength of the “inherently descriptive” marks at...more
A “trademark” is any word, phrase, logo or design that identifies the source of goods or services. Trademarks are used to distinguish one’s products and services from those of another. The strength of a trademark depends on...more
Joining a series of precedential decisions about descriptiveness, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently affirmed a refusal to register Sheet Pile, LLC’s (“Applicant”) mark ZPILE on the Principal Register, on the...more
Welcome to the March 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler’s MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the IPR Center’s efforts to stop global IP theft and address counterfeiting on both home and foreign turf; a recent TTAB...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgement to a luxury-watchmaker defendant, holding that its use of a registered and incontestable trademarked term was fair use...more
Branding is critical for emerging companies in the healthy food and beverage (“F&B”) space. Strong brands can help companies stand out from competitors and build trust and loyalty with customers. For emerging companies, a...more
On May 13, 2021, the Québec government introduced Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (the Bill), proposing significant amendments to Québec’s Charter of the French Language (the...more
There once was a company named Zotz, Which created toys for tots, Let’s use “Robotoy,” Zotz declares, File at once, Lawyer Zares, Months later, Zotz is dejected, Too descriptive, trademark rejected. First published in...more
In a world where brand identity significantly influences consumer decisions, protecting the uniqueness of one’s product or service becomes more critical than ever. At the forefront of this issue is the concept of trademarks,...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a notice that a data security incident exposed domicile addresses of numerous trademark applicants who filed applications between February 2020 and March...more
Think about your favorite pizza restaurant. What sets it apart from the frozen pizza you could pick up from your local grocery store? Is it the cheese-stuffed crust? The quality of the pepperoni?...more