Popular, Likelihood of Confusion

F1 Team Sues Former Principal Over Personal Photographs Displaying Team Trademarks in Memoir

Miller Canfield on 5/10/2024

Earlier this year, the Haas F1 Team announced it would compete in the 2024 Formula One Championship without the leadership of its former principal Guenther Steiner. Following this separation, Steiner sued his former team for...more

Supreme Court Vacates and Remands the Lower Court's Ruling in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC

Sunstein LLP on 6/13/2023

In a case that has already garnered extensive media attention due to the fame of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and public curiosity regarding a trademark clash involving whiskey and dog toys, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous...more

To Parody or Not to Parody: The Supreme Court Weighs In

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 6/13/2023

Close on the heels of the unanimous decision in Amgen v. Sanofi, the Supreme Court handed down another unanimous decision in Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products. Justice Kagan wrote the opinion, with Justice Sotomayor and Justice...more

Intellectual Property Law: Looking Forward to 2023

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 12/16/2022

With the continuing advancements of cutting-edge technologies — such as genome editing (CRISPR) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — U.S. courts will have a full docket of challenging IP cases throughout 2023. Below are some of...more

Outcome of Hermes Claim Against MetaBirkin NFT May Provide Glimpse of Future for Fashion, Art in Metaverse

International Lawyers Network on 2/16/2022

Hermes recently sued a digital artist for knocking off its Birkin handbag through the issuance of MetaBirkin non-fungible tokens (“NFT”). For those not aware of the filing or related media attention, the artist created fuzzy...more

TTAB Mi-STEAK-enly Evaluated Evidence in Determining No Likelihood of Confusion

McDermott Will & Emery on 1/9/2019

Addressing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB’s) treatment of certain evidence in its likelihood of confusion analysis, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the TTAB’s dismissal of...more

Loves me not: Wholesale Jewelry, Inc. Hit with Infringement of Cartier Trademarks and LOVE Collection Trade Dress

Knobbe Martens on 9/5/2018

On July 18, 2018 the well-known luxury goods company, Cartier International AG and Cartier, a division of Richemont North America Inc. (collectively, “Cartier” or “Plaintiffs”) filed suit in the United States District Court...more

It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Dilution By Blurring: TTAB Sustains DC Comics’ Opposition Against Application For Super Woman Of...

Ladas & Parry LLP on 11/6/2017

In a non-precedential decision in DC Comics v Deanna Rivetti (Opposition 91219851, August 17 2017), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) sustained an opposition to the registration of Application Number 86240703 for...more

Food & Beverage Litigation Update | September 2017

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. on 9/5/2017

Shook Partners Lindsey Heinz and Katie Gates Calderon, with Associate Hillary Nicholas, have authored an article for Law360 discussing regulations related to the use of photography during a U.S. Food and Drug Administration...more

Ninth Circuit Confirms Willfulness is Required to Award Profits in Trademark Cases

Fenwick & West LLP on 7/18/2017

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its commitment to the rule that willfulness is a prerequisite for disgorgement of a trademark infringer’s profits in Stone Creek v. Omnia Italian Design, Case No....more

10 Trademark Cases About Yo Mama

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark on 5/9/2017

Anna Jarvis led the efforts to establish the first official celebration of Mother’s Day in 1908, during which she honored her own mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, a Civil War-era social activist. But about a dozen years after...more

Copyright and Trademark Case Review: Copyright Preemption, Software-as-a-Service and Popularity on the Internet

WilmerHale on 2/8/2017

Copyright Decisions - Claim for Copying of Useful Article Design Preempted by Copyright Act: Ultraflo Corp. v. Pelican Tank Parts, Inc., No. 15-20084 (5th Cir. Jan. 11, 2017)...more

2017 Intellectual Property Law Year In Review

McDermott Will & Emery on 2/1/2017

Though politics ruled the headlines in 2016, the year still brought big changes in intellectual property law and its application, most notably in patent subject matter eligibility, inter partes review institution and appeal...more

Can Internet Comments and Search Results Prove Trademark Infringement?

Fenwick & West LLP on 11/22/2016

You’ve selected a unique trademark, marketed and sold products under the brand, and continue to build up a base of satisfied customers. But then a new company emerges with a very similar trademark, piggybacking on your...more

More Than Zero: Under the Lanham Act, One Interstate Sale Qualifies as Actual Use of a Trademark in Commerce

Knobbe Martens on 11/21/2016

In 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected shoe manufacturer Adidas’s application to trademark the phrase “ADIZERO,” due to a likelihood of confusion with an existing mark: “ADD A ZERO,” a clothing trademark held...more

Miss Trademark USA: Beauty Pageant Naming Disputes

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark on 8/10/2016

Just this month, two disputes over the trademark rights to beauty pageant names were resolved, pending appeal. In World Pageants LLC v. Miss G-String International LLC, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) dismissed...more

The Pleads Of The Many: 50 Years of Star Trek Lawsuits

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark on 7/19/2016

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of the original series of Star Trek, which first aired on NBC in September 1966. On July 22, this milestone will be marked in earnest when Paramount Pictures releases...more

Copyright and Trademark Case Review: FLANAX, Fishing Tackle, Football Players and More

WilmerHale on 4/5/2016

Summaries of Recent Precedential and Informative Appellate Opinions - Trademark Opinions - Owners of Foreign Marks May Sue Under Lanham Act Without Using Marks in the US: Belmora LLC v. Bayer Consumer Care AG,...more

Drilling Down: Court Invalidates Design Patent on Wellbore Centralizer Due to Lack of Ornamentality

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 3/17/2016

In an unusual patent claim construction order on March 2nd, a federal district court held a design patent invalid for functionality. This is a relatively rare outcome because claim construction in design patent cases is often...more

Supreme Court Denies Review of Ninth Circuit Decision Finding no Trademark Infringement for Amazon Search Results

Proskauer Rose LLP on 3/3/2016

On February 29, 2016, the Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision holding that there was no likelihood of confusion, and therefore no trademark infringement, where Amazon.com responded to consumer searches...more

Star Wars Copyright and Trademark Litigation: The Empire Sues Back

Haven’t seen the new Star Wars movie yet? The pop culture zeitgeist recommends that you binge-watch all six of the prior Star Wars movies before going to see Episode VII, The Force Awakens and, according to the Washington...more

Superman, Superdad, and the Limits of a Trademark Parody Defense

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 1/7/2016

Superman has triumphed yet again, this time with help from the federal court in the Central District of California. It wasn’t actually Superman that scored this particular victory, but DC Comics, owner of the trademark rights...more

Issues to Be Aware of When Seeking Trademark Protection

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 12/4/2015

Trademarks are valuable tools for businesses since they allow a trademark holder to identify and distinguish its goods from those manufactured or sold by others. However, there are many issues to be aware of when seeking...more

Amazon Wins Ruling on Results for Searches on Brands It Doesn’t Sell

Foley & Lardner LLP on 10/26/2015

On October 21, 2015, the Ninth Circuit ruled that online retailer Amazon does not violate the Lanham Act when, in response to a search for a brand it doesn’t sell, it returns a results page that fails to disclose that fact...more

EU General Court rules on likelihood of confusion between trade marks that use foreign script

Dechert LLP on 9/9/2015

The European General Court's decision in Loutfi Management Propriété Intellectuelle SARL v AMJ Meatproducts (Case C-147/14) concerned the use of non-Latin script in Community trade marks (“CTMs”). The General Court held that...more

Today's Popular Updates › Likelihood of Confusion

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"