Generic no more: Booking.com wins
Ron ColemanHeld, today, in the Supreme Court: Under these principles, whether “Booking.com” is generic turns on whether that term, taken as a whole, signifies to consumers the class of online hotel-reservation…
NYIPLA Amicus Brief – Booking.com
This week, the New York Intellectual Property Law filed this amicus brief in the Booking.com case before the SCOTUS. I helped (a little). These are complicated issues, and I will…
Booking.com and genericness
The U.S. Supreme Court announced earlier this month that it will hear the Booking.com trademark case in the new year. Booking.com BV, owner of the popular hotel reservation website, has…
NYIPLA: Hot topics and a generic presentation
This Thursday is the hot summer half-day of sizzling CLE: The “Hot Topics in Intellectual Property” extravaganza at the New York Intellectual Property Association. And I will be presenting on…
The new generic
It is no longer the case that the appearance of your brand in the dictionary spells its doom as a protectable trademark.
When Dot Com really can make a trademark (Best of 2017)
Originally posted on September 8, 2017.In an important new ruling, Booking.com B.V. v. Matal, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia — on an appeal from the…
When Dot Com really can make a trademark
In an important new ruling, Booking.com B.V. v. Matal, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia — on an appeal from the PTO under 15 U.S. §…
Verb That Adjective Noun! “Google” Is Not (Yet) Generic.
Matthew David BrozikIt was bound to happen sooner or later—and in fact it happened back in 2012. Someone sued to have “Google” declared generic and the registration of the trademark(s) “GOOGLE” canceled…
Back from the void
In trademarks, generic is generic is generic. That’s what makes it generic. But there’s a difference between a would-be trademark that is born generic and one that dies of “genericide.”…
Document review
Where to start, where to start… At the beginning, I guess. Though not in chronological order. LIKELY2CONFUSE00001: I wrote a post on the subject of the genericization of the term…
Best of 2011: I feel like a table-tennis ball! (Updated 2015)
First published March 3, 2011. When I saw Sergiy Sivochek’s post about the PING PONG trademark, I thought it sounded familiar — and it is! Pamela Chestek and I swatted…
Best of 2005: The Trademark That’s Too Good to be a Trademark
Posted on December 26, 2005. That’s what a generic mark is. The TTAB Blog reports that the TTAB has ruled that Lawyers.com, the consumer interface for the Martindale-Hubbell law directory,…
Take it away and tank ‘er away, um TANQUERAY
Steve Baird, who for my money is pretty much the best one doing this on a regular basis these days, has this great post up at Duets Blog mainly on…
The not so bright line
The preamble of the Lanham Act Section 2 is followed by six lower-case–lettered sections, the fifth of which contains four separately numbered “grounds” on which it is permissible to refuse…