News & Analysis as of

Genericide

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - July 2023: How to Lose a Mark in 3 Ways – Part 2: Genericide

One of the signs of a healthy trademark is a certain level of distinctiveness. Distinctiveness is related to consumers’ love and recognition of a mark as an indicator of a product’s source, such that consumers trust the mark...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - July 2023

Thank you for reading the July 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we continue our three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights with a discussion of genericide. We...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

“Taco Tuesday” Serves Up Lessons on Trademark Protection

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If you’re celebrating Taco Tuesday, where are you going? If you answered anything other than Taco John’s, you’re guilty of aiding in trademark genericization. Taco John’s (now owned by Spicy Seasonings, LLC) obtained a...more

AEON Law

Patent Poetry: When is trademark generic?

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In theory, a trademark can last “forever.” For example, the winged hourglass logo of the Longines watch company, originally registered in Switzerland in 1889, is the oldest valid trademark in the International Registry...more

BakerHostetler

AD-ttorneys@law – March 2021 #1

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Sean Combs Opens New Front in War Against GBG Sean John - Accuses majority holder of using election-related trademarks to sell goods - Puffy Prologue - The lawsuit between Sean John Combs (AKA Puff Daddy, AKA P. Diddy, AKA...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Shifting Gears: A Quick Tour of Genericide

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Have you ever been to an indoor cycling class? If so, you most likely have heard the term “spin class,” or referred to the act itself as “spinning.” Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. would take offense, however, calling such uses...more

Snell & Wilmer

Is “Booking.com” Generic? We’ll Booking.See

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By Andy Halaby The Supreme Court’s decision in United States Patent & Trademark Office v. Booking.com to take up whether booking.com is generic, and thus unprotectable as a trademark, is intriguing....more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Proper Use of Trademarks and Trademark Symbols

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, color, sound, or a combination thereof, that serves to identify the source of goods or services from those of another. Questions frequently arise about how trademarks should be...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Year-End Trademark Audits Ensure Complete Brand Protection

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With the end of the year approaching and the holiday shopping season in full swing, now is an ideal time for brand owners to audit their trademark portfolios. ...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Protecting the Popular Brand: Considerations to Avoid Genericide

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When it comes to trademark registration, there is such a thing as being too popular. Marks such as Aspirin, Fiberglass, Zipper and Flip Phone became so ubiquitous that they were found to be generic—a commonly used name or...more

Baker Donelson

The Value of ZERO – Expanding the Doctrine of Generic Trademarks

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A “generic” term for a general class of products or services cannot be used as a trademark or service mark for the goods or services in those class(es), because the function of a trademark (or service mark) is to identify and...more

Jones Day

ZEROing In On Genericness: Federal Circuit Vacates Decision Finding ZERO Registrable

Jones Day on

The Decision: The Federal Circuit vacated the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's determination that "ZERO" is not generic and has acquired distinctiveness, and remanded. The Reasoning: The Board erroneously framed the...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Copyright in the Digital Age: Cisco v. Arista and the Scènes à Faire Doctrine

Imagine producing a classic Western without cowboys, saloons, or standoffs. This seems almost inconceivable because these elements are deeply integral to the genre – so much so, in fact, that they are essentially necessary...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Intellectual Property Bulletin - Winter 2018

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Crowdsourced Content in Video Games: How Ownership Issues Almost “Ganked” a Copyright Case - In Blizzard Entertainment v. Lilith Games (Shanghai) Company, a federal court denied a motion for partial summary judgment for...more

McAfee & Taft

So big they failed… How trademarks become generic

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Most of us understand that a trademark is the brand name for a product: Oreo® sandwich cookies, Kleenex® tissue, Velcro® fasteners. But what happens when one brand name becomes so ubiquitous and so closely identified with a...more

Weintraub Tobin

Google May Be A Verb, But Verb Use Alone Does Not Constitute Genericness

Weintraub Tobin on

Just Google it. Can you Google the score? Have you Googled the restaurant’s reviews? These are all common phrases in today’s internet-reliant society, and it’s entirely due to the creation of Google and its widespread...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Is Comic-Con The Victim Of Genericide?

Fox Rothschild LLP on

A federal judge in San Diego has cleared for trial a case that may strip San Diego Comic-Con from trademark protection. First, some background. Even a registered trademark such as Comic-Con can lose protection if it...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Life in the Lowercase Lane: Lessons for Trademark Owners About Genericide

Death by genericide is a painful way to go, for trademarks that is. When the public comes to think of a trademark as the common word for a product or service -- as opposed to identifying its exclusive source -- the trademark...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - August 2017

The August 2017 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® discusses lessons for trademark owners about genericide, lists the new gTLD Sunrise periods, and upcoming speaking engagements. ...more

Knobbe Martens

Tiffany Wins the Generic Battle, and the Spoils of War are Significant (Updated)

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Update: U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain has awarded Tiffany & Co. $11.1 million in treble profits and $8.25 million in punitive damages. Judge Taylor Swain wrote in her opinion that Costco’s management “displayed...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Intellectual Property Law - July 2017

SCOTUS: For Patent Venue, Domestic Corporations ‘Reside’ Where Incorporated - Why it matters: On May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC—rejecting...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Trademark Genericide: GOOGLE Is Not “a Google”

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made a point to remind trademark litigants of the relevant laws and policies pertaining to trademark “genericide” when it sustained summary judgment in favor of ubiquitous search...more

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog

But Is It Okay to Google His Name? T-Pain Not Guilty of Genericide

“Baby it’s okay, you can Google my name.” This line from T-Pain’s hit, “Bottlez,” became a focus in a recent Ninth Circuit trademark case on my favorite intellectual property issue: genericide. Among other evidence, the court...more

Proskauer - New Media & Technology

Google Escapes Genericide Claim in Ninth Circuit Decision

On May 16, 2017, the Ninth Circuit rejected a petition for cancellation of the GOOGLE trademark based on a “genericide” theory that claimed Google should lose its trademark protection because the word “google” has become...more

Lewitt Hackman

Trademark Law & Genericide: Google's Not Dead Yet

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Domain name registration is usually a good first step to cement trade name and mark ownership. In a previous blog we reminded readers that possession, even in Intellectual Property matters, is nine-tenths of the law...more

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