Companies versus their fans
Walter Olson: The famous maker of candies and candy-dispensers is suing the owners of the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Northern California, claiming that […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
Continue reading » Category: Trademarks and trademark law
Second Circuit and the whole of the law on confusion
This is big, but stay calm. Though I hardly can. I took some heat a little while ago for suggesting, contrary to my generally skeptical […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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While my guitar gently weeps
One of the first posts on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION® was about Gibson Guitar Corp. v. Paul Reed Smith Guitars, LP, 70 UPSQ2d 1911 (M.D. Tenn. […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Comments from another blog; or, Did I get chocolate in Marty’s peanut butter?
Via Marty Schwimmer’s Trademark Blog: Marty, you got peanut butter in my chocolate! You’re considering the respective design and layout choices in isolation, seriatim, rather […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
Continue reading » “Truth made you a trader, as it often does in a time of scoundrels”
And it is words such as these that follow that are the first refuge of trademark scoundrels. If you are a trademark attorney, sit down […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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Best of 2008: “Designer Skin v. S&L Continued: ‘S&L had a perfect right to sell this product'” (July)
This was first posted on July 18th: Unfortunately for future defendants in the position of our client, Internet retailer S&L, U.S. District Judge James Teilborg’s […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
Continue reading » Let’s brand together and make a BRANDED COMMUNITY!
Another one: A blogger on ZDNet had a post about “enterprise communities” where the phrase “branded community” was used. That’s a descriptive use and a […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
Continue reading » Online retailing and initial interest confusion
We reported earlier on a related case in this area implicating the use of trademarks to sell merchandise online via “unauthorized distributors.” A new decision […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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No one blinks
Reuters reports that the Tiffany trademark suit against eBay is really going to trial. Really! I am sure no one expected this. I certainly didn’t. […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
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Octs in their heads
Originally posted 2014-02-21 13:48:07. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe Colorado Rockies are “trying to trademark [sic]” the expression “Rocktober.”
Written by: Ron Coleman
Continue reading » “Just taking orders” doesn’t cut it for eBay in Germany
eBay evidently got rocked by Rolex* in its German litigation this year, and we may never have heard about it if not for a securities […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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On the wrong track, as usual
Jews for Jesus, the sleazy, misleading missionaries who crawl over Manhattan each summer, had to back off from their use of the MTA’s world-famous symbols. […]
Written by: 
Ron Coleman
Continue reading » The slide to genericide
Evan Brown writes about everyone’s favorite candidate for the dustbin of trademark history — Google. It’s obvious to me that Google has made a conscious […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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“They’re stealing the language!”
Originally posted 2010-02-12 08:15:14. Republished by Blog Post PromoterWrites Boing-Boing: “Super-hero” isn’t Marvel’s property. They didn’t invent the term. They aren’t the only users of […]
Written by: Ron Coleman
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