News & Analysis as of

Inherently Distinctive Intellectual Property Protection

McDermott Will & Emery

Beach Buggy Battle: Stipulation Insufficient to Establish Trademark Distinctiveness

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that a district court does not need to accept both parties’ stipulation that a mark is distinctive but instead is permitted to make an evidentiary inquiry in determining...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

TTAB favours Airbnb in opposition against competitor TREEBNB mark

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In Airbnb Inc v Seth Bolt and Victoria Bolt, the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) ruled in favour of opposer Airbnb Inc., against applicants Seth and Victoria Bolt. The board’s decision was influenced by, among other...more

A&O Shearman

HALLOUMI collective mark fails to prevent trade mark registration for GRILLOUMI

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The High Court has recently upheld the UKIPO’s decision that GRILLOUMI and GRILLOUMAKI can be registered as trade marks, despite opposition from the owners of the collective mark HALLOUMI. This decision highlights the...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Certification Marks and Fame

Trademark owners have the right to stop third parties from using marks that could cause a likelihood of consumer confusion. Third-party use of a trademark that is the same or similar to the owner's trademark for goods related...more

Felicello Law PC

Is NO FAKESi the Answer to Avoid Fake Out?ii

Felicello Law PC on

The impersonation of celebrity voices is nothing new. Almost 40 years ago, Bette Midler successfully sued Ford Motor Company when it used an impersonation of her voice in a car commercial. Singer Tom Waits also won a similar...more

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, February 2024: Fruity Pebbles Denied Color Mark, Captain Cannabis Cancellation, Trader Joe’s vs....

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Every month, Erise’s trademark attorneys review the latest developments at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in the courts, and across the corporate world to bring you the stories that you should know about: Fruity...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

The Sky’s the Limit? TTAB Rules that Guitar-Shaped Hotel Is a Distinctive Design

Womble Bond Dickinson on

For music lovers, while it may be a bit far for some to travel to Liverpool and stay in the Yellow Sub Hotel, why not have a more local adventure, in sunny Florida at The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s The Guitar Hotel,...more

Vondran Legal

Understanding the importance of Trade Dress Protection for your distinct and non-functional product designs and packaging

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What is the difference between a traditional trademark and trade dress protection? Traditional Trademarks - According to the USPTO - A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things...more

Burr & Forman

Distinctive Trademarks: What Are They, and Why Are They Important to Your Food and Beverage Services?

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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

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

The Ohio State University Wins the War

By now, news has broken about The Ohio State University and its official registration of a trademark for the word “THE”. This comes after a nearly three-year battle to clinch legal branding access to a word that’s deeply...more

Knobbe Martens

What’s in a Name?: Third Party Use of a Descriptive Term Without Secondary Meaning Can Undermine Assertions of Substantially...

Knobbe Martens on

GALPERTI, INC. v. GALPERTI S.R.L. Before: Moore, Prost, Taranto. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary:  Evidence of use of a term even without a showing of secondary meaning, by any third party,...more

Snell & Wilmer

Trade Dress: What It Is and How to Protect It

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I. Trade Dress Is Either a Trademark or Service Mark. “Trade dress” functions as either a trademark or service mark. A “trademark” is any word, term, phase, symbol, logo, design, shape, tag line, background, color, scent,...more

BakerHostetler

Promoting the Progress of Science: Avoiding Inherent Anticipation

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Congratulations! Your team has made a critical discovery based on its analysis of your company’s clinical data. You want to file a patent application so that your company can secure patent rights for that discovery. Simple,...more

Knobbe Martens

Registration of a Multi-Color Mark Does Not Require Acquired Distinctiveness

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In Re FORNEY INDUSTRIES, INC. Before Dyk, O’Malley, and Chen. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: Multi-colored marks may be inherently distinctive when used on product packaging....more

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints

It’s Time to Get Colorful: Federal Circuit Holds That Some Color Marks Can Be Inherently Distinctive

The Federal Circuit recently held in a precedential ruling that a “color mark” comprising a multiple-color pattern is capable of being inherently distinctive and of registration on the Principal Register, so long as it...more

Morgan Lewis

Federal Circuit: Color Marks for Product Packaging Can Be Inherently Distinctive

Morgan Lewis on

Marking a significant departure from Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure guidelines, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned an administrative decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that had...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Lucky Opening Brief on Cert.: Second Circuit’s Novel “Defense Preclusion” Rule Turns a Blind Eye on Bedrock Preclusion Principles

In June 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc., et al. v. Marcel Fashion Group Inc., No. 18-1086.  As set forth in our prior blog posts, Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc. and related...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

What’s "Kicking" at the ITC – the All Star Sneaker Battle

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One of the biggest trademark cases in 2018 addressed the issue of secondary meaning in product design—specifically, Converse’s rights in its signature Chuck Taylor® All Star® shoe. In Converse v. ITC, the Federal Circuit...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Food & Beverage Litigation Update l March 2019 #2

LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - FDA Lifts Import Alert on GE Salmon - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deactivated an import alert that prevented the introduction of genetically engineered (GE)...more

Hogan Lovells

China: Would a rose by any other word taste as sweet? Blocking rose-shaped chocolate monopoly in a complex trademark & OEM dispute

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Our China team and Hogan Lovells Fidelity have recently secured an important victory for WAWI Xiamen (Chinese subsidiary of the leading German chocolate manufacturer Wawi Group), successfully defending it from a 3D trademark...more

Hogan Lovells

Germany: Influencers, distinctiveness and reputation. A translation round-up

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The following short posts covering competition issues in influencer advertising, trademark distinctiveness for media services and limitations to the power of reputation are translated from our German language blog. ...more

Hogan Lovells

Has the General Court let the genie out of the bottle with its latest judgment on shape marks?

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The General Court has recently decided an interesting case concerning the distinctiveness of a shape mark ....more

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

MarkIt to Market® - September 2018: When the Other Shoe Drops – Keep Calm and (Trade) Dress Up

Design patents are often the go-to option for protecting the visual features, or design, of a product. But design patent protection is not always available, such as after the product has been on sale, offered for sale, or...more

Hogan Lovells

U.S. – Reframing the Test for Genericness in the Soft Drink Wars

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Royal Crown Co., Inc. v. The Coca-Cola Co., 2018 WL 3040163 (Fed. Cir. June 20, 2018) - In late June, the Federal Circuit issued  an opinion in the year-long litigation between Royal Crown Co., Inc. (“RC”) and The...more

Hogan Lovells

‘Polo’ wins enhanced distinctiveness”chukkers” to offset weak distinctive character

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In this EUTM case the General Court (GC) decided for The Polo/Lauren Company LP, concluding that alleged weak distinctive character of the earlier mark in regard to certain goods was amply compensated by the enhanced...more

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