(Podcast) The Briefing: The Fall of SUPER HERO – When Trademarks Become Generic
The Briefing: The Fall of SUPER HERO – When Trademarks Become Generic
How To Select a Strong Trademark
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: SPIN Trademark Has Peloton Wrapped Around the Axel
JONES DAY TALKS®: Women in IP: 2020 in Review and a Look Toward 2021
A recent pair of trademark decisions by the US Supreme Court and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) have clarified how non-English language marks will continue to be treated in the United States, highlighting important...more
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently cancelled long-standing federal registrations for the terms SUPER HEROand SUPER HEROES, once jointly owned by two of the world's largest comic publishers. While these marks were...more
In this episode of The Upper Brand, hosts Rich Assmus and Kristine Young examine the Illinois Tamale Company v. LC Trademark Incorporated case, exploring whether the "pizza puff" mark is generic and whether Little Caesars'...more
Bayou Grande Coffee Roasting Company (“Bayou Grande”), a coffee company based out of St. Petersburg, Florida, faced a long and winding road to register its mark KAHWA in connection with café and coffee shop services in Class...more
Illinois Tamale Co., Inc. v. LC Trademarks, Inc., 2026 WL 125544 (7th Cir. Jan. 16, 2026) - Be vigilant of how the public perceives your trademark, because if the primary significance of your mark has become the generic...more
Securing a federal trademark registration is one of the most effective ways to protect your brand, deter copycats, and enhance the value of your business. Yet, the path from concept to registration is full of strategic...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board decision upholding refusal of the KAHWA mark for cafés and coffee shops, holding that the doctrine of foreign equivalents was...more
PT Medisafe Technologies (“Medisafe”) has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision upholding the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (“TTAB”) refusal to register Medisafe’s dark green color mark...more
On June 12, 2023, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, owner of the UGG brand, sued Quince, an affordable fashion e-commerce company, alleging that Quince’s shearling lined boots infringed Deckers’ unregistered trade dress and one...more
A basic rule of trademark law is that trademark protection cannot be obtained for a term that is “generic,” meaning that it simply designates the type of goods at issue. For example, the term “apple” is generic when used to...more
A recent petition for a writ of certiorari filed with the United States Supreme Court brings into question the application of the doctrine of foreign equivalents. Under the doctrine of foreign equivalents, a trademark...more
Color can be a powerful tool for brand recognition, but securing trademark protection for a color mark involves unique legal and evidentiary challenges. Recent decisions from the Federal Circuit and Trademark Trial and Appeal...more
Vetements Group AG (“Vetements”), a Swiss luxury brand that sells expensive, reimagined clothing, recently petitioned the Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision in In re: Vetements Grp. AG, Case Nos. 2023-2050,...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 this episode of The Upper Brand, Richard Assmus, Kristine Young, and Christa Cole delve into key court cases that have shaped trademark law. They explore the intricacies of functional and generic trademarks, with insights...more
Legal updates: case law analysis and intelligence - - The TTAB, applying the Milwaukee test, rejected an application for a dark green colour mark for medical gloves on the ground that it was generic - The Federal Circuit...more
Registering and protecting a trademark involves more than just filing paperwork. Many businesses make costly errors that could lead to rejection, enforcement issues, or even the loss of rights. Here are some of the most...more
Suppose that you want to register your trademark that is in a non-English language on goods or services for your business in the United States. Will your non-English language trademark need to be translated to English to...more
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a denial by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of an application filed by fashion house Vetements Group AG for VETEMENTS for various articles of...more
IN RE: PT MEDISAFE TECHNOLOGIES - Before Prost, Clevenger, and Stark. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A proposed color mark was found generic where the relevant public perceived the color to be a common...more
In a precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently blessed the test used by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) for denying registration to PT Medisafe Technologies for a...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s refusal to register the mark VETEMENTS for clothing and related retail services, finding that the mark was generic under the...more
Addressing for the first time the test for determining whether a color mark is generic, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit adopted the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s Milwaukee test as the appropriate standard,...more
In refusing registration of the color green for “chloroprene medical examination gloves,” the Federal Circuit adopted — for the first time — a legal test for genericness of color marks. The decision underscores the high...more