News & Analysis as of

Use in Commerce

Smart & Biggar

Canadian trademark law 2025: a year in review

Smart & Biggar on

2025 marked a year of adaptive reform in Canadian trademark law. Decisions, legislative updates, CIPO initiatives, and procedural enhancements collectively show the system continuing to mature in the wake of the 2019...more

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

MarkIt to Market® – January 2026

Welcome to the January 2026 issue of Sterne Kessler’s MarkIt to Market® newsletter. As we’ve entered the new year, we’re excited to introduce a new quarterly digest format for MarkIt to Market®....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

All rise: Here comes the real judge

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sustained the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s refusal to register trademark applications (over oppositions) for two character marks and a design mark based on the Board’s...more

Hendershot Cowart P.C.

Protect Your Brand: 5 Lessons from the Texas Stock Exchange Trademark Battle

Hendershot Cowart P.C. on

In September 2024, the Toronto Stock Exchange sent a cease-and-desist letter to the newly launched Texas Stock Exchange, demanding they abandon their TXSE branding. The Canadian exchange claimed the four-letter acronym was...more

Knobbe Martens

(Intend To) Use It or Lose It: Proving Bona Fide Intent Before the TTAB

Knobbe Martens on

In a precedential opinion issued in September 2025, the TTAB sustained the opposition of the mark, HOTEL EL ROBLAR, for hotel services in class 43, agreeing with the opposer that the applicant lacked bona fide intent to use...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Lip-Sync for Your Rights: Recent Developments in Trademark Law and LGBTQ+ Performance Art

Drag is a form of performance art in which individuals use clothing, makeup, and exaggerated mannerisms to express and perform aspects of gender identity, often through parody, glamor, or camp. It can take many forms—from...more

Foster Swift Collins & Smith

Trademark Use Done Right with Specimens that Work

Did you know that one of the most common reasons the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refuses trademarks isn’t because of the name itself — it’s the specimen you submit? Let’s make sure yours doesn’t fall into...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Can the Use of a Trademark on “Swag” Establish First Use in Commerce and Trademark Priority? Possibly, under the Totality of the...

It is a fundamental principle of trademark law that the first person to actually use a trademark in commerce has priority over that mark. “Use in commerce” is defined by statute to mean “the bona fide use of a mark in the...more

Jaburg Wilk

Maintaining and Protecting Your Trademark Rights After Registration

Jaburg Wilk on

Securing a federal trademark registration is a major milestone—but it is not the end of the journey. To keep your rights strong and enforceable, you need to maintain the registration and actively protect the mark in the...more

Weintraub Tobin

(Podcast) The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle

Weintraub Tobin on

Who really owns WallStreetBets? The man who created the subreddit, or the platform that hosted it? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler dive into the trademark showdown between Jaime Rogozinski and...more

Weintraub Tobin

The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle

Weintraub Tobin on

Who really owns WallStreetBets? The man who created the subreddit, or the platform that hosted it? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler dive into the trademark showdown between Jaime Rogozinski and...more

Jones Day

Global Trade Secret Update - Key Developments in 2024

Jones Day on

This publication summarizes noteworthy 2024 legal developments in trade secret law in key centers of commerce throughout the world. Understanding these legislative and judicial developments can help trade secret owners...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Equity Is Neither a “Good” Nor a “Service” Under Lanham Act

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that, in terms of trademark use in commerce, corporate equity is not a “good” or “service” under the Lanham Act. LegalForce RAPC Worldwide, PC...more

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks: November 2024: Injunction Upheld in OpenAI v. Open AI; USPTO Modifies Audit Practice to Target...

Erise IP on

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: 9th Cir....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

PTO Proposes Additional Audits to Put “Specimen Farms” Out to Pasture

McDermott Will & Schulte on

In response to reports that some registrants use fraudulent specimens to prove continued use in commerce, the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) proposed an update to its post-registration audit process. Changes in...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Importance of Trademark Protection for Small Business Owners

Amundsen Davis LLC on

Small business owners should consider securing a federal trademark registration as a means of safeguarding their business identity and distinguishing themselves from competitors. Although you are not required to register a...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

“Conquesting”: Use of Rival’s Name as Keyword Search Term Isn’t Actionable Under Lanham Act

Noting how rare it is for trademark infringement cases to be decided on summary judgment, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment finding that the plaintiff law firm...more

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, October 2024: T.I., Tiny Win $71.5M Verdict for OMG Girlz, Second Circuit Holds Against 1-800...

Erise IP on

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: Third...more

Pillsbury - Propel

Trademark Fundamentals: Use in Commerce

Pillsbury - Propel on

Startup founders looking to protect their brands need to understand the concept of “use in commerce” to successfully register their trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This article will break down...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Foreign Sales to Foreign Customers Are Not Actionable Under the Lanham Act

Issuing a revised opinion following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit determined that none of the defendant’s purely foreign sales...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

Search and File, Here and There!

There once was a company named Zotz, Which created toys for tots, It set up abroad, of course! But filing first is KnockOffSource, Can Zotz manufacture? Methink “notz!” First published in Inside magazine, NYSBA, Fall...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

Search first!

There once was a company named Zotz, Which created toys for tots, The newest toy, named Ketter™, Recalled after a cease and desist letter, Oh my, no trademark search, CEO Zotz? First published in Inside magazine,...more

Miller Canfield

This is How We Use It: The Importance of Use in Canadian Trademark Law and Keeping Records of Use

Miller Canfield on

In our previous article, Protecting Your Brand: A Primer on Canadian Trademarks, we touched upon the beginning stages of a trademark application and considerations such as, "Should I register my trademark?" and "Is the...more

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog

Out of Bounds: Supreme Court Sets the Limits of U.S. Trademark Law

On June 29, 2023, in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc., 600 U.S. ___ (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Lanham Act could not extend to trademark infringement that occurred almost entirely outside...more

Sunstein LLP

U.S. Brand Owners Have More Limited Options to Curb Foreign Infringement following Supreme Court’s Abitron Ruling

Sunstein LLP on

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated trademark decision in Abitron Austria v. Hetronic International concerning the global reach of the Lanham Act. The Court determined that U.S. law does not extend...more

154 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 7

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

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide