PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now - Enforcing and Expanding Your Brand During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In recent years, the number of cancellations based on non-use of trademarks for 3 consecutive years has increased year by year. When submitting use evidence to the CNIPA in response to the cancellation, there is a situation...more
The Federal Circuit partially refuted the long held assumption that the trademark applicant has the burden of proving third party marks were in use when determining the strength of the applicant mark. The panel led by Judge...more
In Spireon, Inc. v. Flex Ltd., No. 2022-1578 (Fed. Cir. June 26, 2023), the Federal Circuit took a surprising turn in which it held that it is the trademark owner’s burden to prove that identical third-party marks put forth...more
CJEU Decision - In Maxxus Group GmbH v Globus Holding GmbH C‑183/21, the CJEU was asked whether German procedural rules were consistent with Article 19 of the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 on revocation of trademark rights for...more
The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) was signed into law on December 27, 2020. The TMA amended the federal trademark law (known as the Lanham Act) to provide new tools to address abuses of the US trademark...more
In response to the protracted impact of COVID-19, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has determined that the pandemic constitutes an extraordinary situation warranting several announcements over the past year that...more
Suppose that you want to register a trademark that identifies a source of goods or services for your business. What if you file a federal trademark application and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refuses registration of...more
As we near the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, trademark maintenance deadlines in 2021 create new obstacles for registrants. To maintain a federal trademark registration, registrants must periodically file an...more
Despite the black humor that March 2020 has never actually ended, time does keep marching on and presenting new challenges. As we near the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, trademark maintenance deadlines in 2021 create...more
On the latest episode of Williams Mullen's Trending Now - An IP Podcast, Ed White is joined by Janet Cho to discuss specific strategies to protect and enhance your brand during the COVID-19 pandemic....more
Trademark rights in the US are based on use of a mark not on registration. Failure to use your mark on a product or to offer a service to the public can result in an abandonment of your trademark rights and an inability to...more
With the closure of “non-essential” businesses throughout the country and the world, the use of trademarks on and in connection with products and services may be interrupted or altogether halted for a period of time. This...more
The case of Aiwa Co. Ltd v Aiwa Corporation is a useful reminder to brand owners, particularly those who are looking to revive a brand, of what amounts to “genuine use” of a registered trade mark. The case particularly...more
With a “no-deal” scenario looking increasingly more likely, what should brand owners be doing to prepare for 31 October this year? EU trade marks in the UK - Once the UK leaves the EU, existing EU trade marks (EUTMs)...more
In July, the Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO declared the MONOPOLY trade mark invalid to the extent that the underlying application covered goods and services for which the trade mark was already registered. Such filings...more
After five years of anticipation, sweeping changes to Canada’s trademark law will finally come into force on June 17, 2019. The changes, which are substantial, have been canvassed in previous IP Updates. The following briefly...more
The Federal Court recently handed down its decision in Calico Global Pty Ltd v Calico LLC. This decision highlights the potentially fatal consequences of not updating the IP Australia register to reflect a change in trade...more
When the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) last week revoked the EU trade mark registration for the mark ‘BIG MAC’, following a challenge brought by an Irish fast-food chain, SUPERMAC’S, it was hailed by the...more
A recent decision involving an AT&T trademark demonstrates how the global reach of technology businesses can sometimes result in a blurring of markets and make documentation of trademark use in Canada difficult to retrieve...more
USPTO Red TapeRegular readers of the Trademark and Copyright Law Blog and our Trademark Red Tape™ column may recall our previous report on a pilot study by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) about...more