News & Analysis as of

Likelihood of Confusion Lanham Act

Knobbe Martens

Fireball Frenzy: When First Registering a Mark, Genericness of a Mark Is Determined at the Time of Registration

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BULLSHINE DISTILLERY LLC v. SAZERAC BRANDS, LLC - Before Moore, Reyna and Taranto. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In assessing genericness, the TTAB considers how the mark was understood at the time of...more

Irwin IP LLP

Your “Chicken Scratch” May Be Confusing 

Irwin IP LLP on

In Re R.S. Lipman Brewing Co., LLC, 2025 WL 1099603 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 14, 2025) - Be careful when selecting a name for your product, otherwise you might find yourself cooked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office...more

Hogan Lovells

Legal 500 United States: Trademark Disputes Q&A

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To represent a client before Court in respect of a potential trademark infringement matter, do you require a Power of Attorney – and if so, what are the execution formalities required by your courts? No. A specific power of...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Opposers Beware: Your Own Mark May Not Be Protectable

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of an opposition to the registration of the marks IVOTERS and IVOTERS.COM while also noting that the US Patent &...more

McDermott Will & Emery

When Analyzing Likelihood of Confusion, It’s Not Just Location, Location, Location

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court’s decision finding no infringement that focused on only the geographic distance between the physical locations of the two users without considering the...more

Fish & Richardson

TTAB Puts Pool Hall Behind the 8 Ball

Fish & Richardson on

On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) granted an opposition filed by Jack’s Family Restaurants, LP, and denied an application filed by Jack’s Grill and Billiards, Inc., to register JACK’S...more

Fish & Richardson

Trademark Owners May Play Only Zone Defense at the TTAB

Fish & Richardson on

In a precedential decision invoking the “zone of natural expansion” doctrine, on March 19, 2025, the Federal Circuit upheld a decision by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) cancelling in part registrations for...more

Offit Kurman

Trademark Registration Misconceptions: What Brand Owners Should Know

Offit Kurman on

Many business owners view trademark registration as a smart investment—and they’re right. A federal registration gives you valuable legal advantages, including nationwide priority, a presumption of ownership, and stronger...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Zone of Natural Expansion Is a Shield, Not a Sword

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board decision to partially cancel trademarks, ruling that an opposition challenger could not use the zone of natural expansion doctrine to...more

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

Does Trademark Law Protect “Bad Will”?

On March 21, 2025, I participated in a spirited panel at the annual IP symposium hosted by the Penn Intellectual Property Group (PIPG) at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Titled “How Far Should Trademark...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Bull: Historically Generic Term Can Become Non-Generic

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed Trademark Trial & Appeal Board rulings, finding that a previously generic term was not generic at the time registration was sought because at that time the mark, as...more

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog

Bad Spaniels III: The Paradox of Parody in Trademark Cases Ex-Rogers

After a decade of litigation and a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from 2023, the legal battle between Jack Daniel’s and VIP Products has taken yet another turn, this time back in favor of Jack Daniel’s. On remand from the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Dog Toy Maker in the Doghouse (Again) for Tarnishing Jack Daniel’s Marks

Addressing this case for the third time, the US District Court for the District of Arizona found on remand that Jack Daniel’s was entitled to a permanent injunction after finding that VIP Products’ “Bad Spaniels” dog toy...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Repping Your School and How the Penn State Decision Ties In

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School merch is big business. Students want sweats, mugs and the like to show they belong at the school. Alums want merch to show they went to the school. Other purchasers want merch as an aspirational statement, or to...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Jack Daniel’s Remand, Part I: Why Did the Trial Court Give “Little Weight” to a Consumer Survey Showing 29% Confusion?, Op. 1, No....

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Seven years ago today, Jack Daniel’s was no doubt riding high. The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona gave Jack a big shot in the arm with a trademark infringement and dilution victory over Bad Spaniel’s...more

Fish & Richardson

USPTO Kicks “Hijacker” of Foreign Trademark Out the Door

Fish & Richardson on

When, if ever, is it okay to use a trademark in U.S. commerce that is identical to another company’s mark used outside the U.S.? Courts have struggled with this issue for years, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

What in the [Meta]World?: Abitron Creates More Questions than Answers

Womble Bond Dickinson on

At a glance, a unanimous Supreme Court, holding that two provisions of the trademark-governing Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1)(a) and 1125(a)(1)) do not apply extraterritorially and extend only to alleged infringement in...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Lager Than Life: $56 Million Verdict in Beer Trademark Dispute Still on Tap

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a $56 million trial verdict in a trademark dispute, finding that the evidence supported the jury’s conclusion that a beer company’s rebranding of one its beers infringed a...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

First Circuit: Lizzie Borden Themed Coffee Shop Serves Different Goods to Different Consumers from Guests at Lizzie Borden Bed and...

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How many years must pass before a grisly murder can support a marketing effort? Apparently, something less than the 132 years since Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were axe murdered in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Yes,...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Clandestine Use of Competitor’s Trademark and ‘Initial Interest Confusion’ Infringement

Businesses use several advertising tactics. Most are clearly presented to potential consumers in traditional ways such as text on a web page, posters, mailings, brochures, etc. Alternatively, some tactics to increase exposure...more

Baker Donelson

Baker's Trademark Developments of 2024

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2024 has been a busy year in all intellectual property. It has been especially busy in trademark law. Here are the top seven cases in trademark law to date....more

McDermott Will & Emery

David-Versus-Goliath Trademark Victory Isn’t “Exceptional”

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated an award of attorneys’ fees for reanalysis, explaining that the district court’s finding that the case was “exceptional” under the Lanham Act was based on policy...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Smart Choice: Survey Design Didn’t Render Survey Unreliable

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Underscoring its faith in a jury’s competency to use its “common sense and experience” in evaluating evidence, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment in favor of the defendants in a...more

McDermott Will & Emery

What Makes a Trademark Case “Exceptional” in the Fifth Circuit?

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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

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, May 2024: Taylor Swift Fans Analyze Latest Trademark Filing; San Francisco Sues Over San Francisco...

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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: Taylor...more

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