The Briefing: How to Avoid Bearing The Risks of A Naked License (Featured Podcast)
The Briefing: How to Avoid Bearing The Risks of A Naked License (Featured)
The Briefing: When Parmesan isn’t Parmesan – Cheese Consortium Attempts to Fight Off Counterfeit Cheese
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - How to Preserve Your Intellectual Property Rights with Marking—Part 1: Trademarks and Copyrights
Pepper Hamilton Higher Education "In Brief" Webinar Series: Intellectual Property Basics - What Every Higher Education Administrator Needs To Know
Protecting Your Brand in China
In a recent precedential decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) found that Door Dash, Inc. (“Door Dash”) was merely doing what all trademark owners must do—protect their valuable rights. Door Dash, Inc....more
The wild west of the e-commerce landscape keeps many trademark owners up at night trying to protect their brand. In the ever-expanding online marketplace, counterfeiters pop-up daily trying to make a quick buck passing off...more
Before we start the show, the casts of characters may drive you Off the Wall, so here’s a little primer to help you: Triumph International, Inc. (“Triumph”) is a merchandise licensing company for the estate of Michael...more
Holland & Knight's Intellectual Property Group has seen an escalation in emails to clients in which the sender applies the scare tactic of "react quickly or lose your rights to your trademark." These are very often scams....more
Great Concepts has owned Registration No. 2929764 for DANTANNA’S, in association with “steak and seafood restaurant[s]”, since March 2005. In 2006 Chutter Inc’s predecessor-in-interest, Dan Tana, petitioned to cancel the mark...more
In 2021, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled Great Concepts, LLC’s trademark registration for the mark DANTANNA’S for restaurant services under Section 14, after finding that counsel for the Registrant committed...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that under certain circumstances a trademark licensee can bring a claim against a third party for unfair competition under the Lanham Act even if the licensing agreement...more
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve and maintain the accuracy of the Trademark Register, and combat trademark scams and bot-filed trademark applications, the USPTO has revised examination procedures for reviewing...more
Trademarks help brand owners build and communicate their brand’s reputation and value with the relevant public. Once that valuable goodwill is linked between a mark and the owner’s products and services, trademark owners can...more
Thank you for reading the August 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we conclude our series that explores ways to lose trademark rights with an examination of naked licensing, discuss a...more
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
In a decision that may make it more difficult for brand owners to enforce their marks against infringers located outside of the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the judgment of the US Court of...more
There are plenty of fish in the sea when it comes to trademarks: from word marks to service marks; from symbols to surnames; from product packaging to product design. When the time is right, and you feel like you have found...more
Thank you for reading the June 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we begin a three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights; share an article that examines the...more
The US Supreme Court ruled today in the closely watched Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc. case, which considered whether a party could recover in US courts for trademark infringement that occurred outside...more
On June 8, 2023, the United States Supreme Court clarified an important unanswered question about the line between the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and trademark owners’ rights under the Lanham Act. In a unanimous, 9-0...more
Personal 3D printing has seen leaps in advancement in recent years, allowing users to render increasingly sophisticated creations from the comfort of their own home. These creations can include anything from gaming miniatures...more
Recently, Melissa Jefferson, known professionally as Lizzo, took on the USPTO in a battle to establish trademark rights to a popular lyric from her 2017, Billboard-topping song Truth Hurts. The phrase, “100% That B—h”, which...more
NBA Properties Lands Slam Dunk in Intellectual Property Win Heard Around the Globe - NBA Properties, Inc. (“NBAP”), the exclusive licensee of the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) and NBA teams’ distinctive trademarks,...more
After concluding that a trademark owner’s case for failure to add a necessary party was untenable, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of the case because the necessary party...more
Under the Lanham Act, a trademark is considered abandoned “when its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use.” Three consecutive years of nonuse constitutes a prima facie showing of abandonment...more
A New York federal court has ruled that a non-fungible token (“NFT”) for a digital image similar to a Birkin handbag may be an “artistic” work for purposes of determining whether the NFT infringes the Birkin trademark and...more
Trademarks are the heartbeat of all businesses that rely on brand identity to reach their audience. Nowhere is this more important than for entertainment and media companies that constantly struggle through the often...more
The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) was signed into law on December 27, 2020. The Act introduces significant amendments to the Lanham Act designed to strengthen the rights of legitimate trademark owners. The Act makes it...more
2020 was a year like no other, so you’d be forgiven if the year’s biggest headlines in trademark law didn’t quite catch your attention. In 2020, the US Supreme Court shaped trademark jurisprudence through a trio of notable...more