Trademark Modernization Act!
Ron ColemanThere we were, all locked down in our houses and not going to the INTA Annual Meeting, and there was a Trademark Modernization Act! Of 2020! Probably a very good…
Keeping it real: Bye-bye, Banksy
Trademarks are an open book — even for Banksy. One of the signal features of the United States trademark registration system is its openness. As I put it in an…
End-run around the USPTO
As you can imagine, the power vested in a court by this law can only be used for good... or evil. And in this Second Circuit appeal of a matter…
Play-Doh, nontraditional trademarks and the odor of success
I was recently asked to prepare an analysis of Play-Doh’s application to register the smell of Play-Doh as a trademark, and, as I do all too often, I agreed. It…
Words matter (Best of 2017)
Originally posted on June 22, 2017. Words are almost everything in a trademark registration, notwithstanding that one drawing. Stick with me. It’s going to get a little esoteric — not…
Why I let my trademark registration lapse
In 2006 I filed to register the trademark LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®, not because I had experienced much in the way of a need for trademark enforcement, but because doing so…
Words matter
Words are almost everything in a trademark registration, notwithstanding that one drawing. Stick with me. It’s going to get a little esoteric — not to say woolly — but hey,…
Gene Simmons gives the fingers to the PTO
Yes, it’s another pop star seeking to assert digital trademark rights. This time it’s senior citizen Gene Simmons of Kiss: If you were wondering, The mark consists of a hand…
Trademark “use in interstate commerce” and the decline of federalism (Best of 2016)
Originally posted December 17, 2016.What’s the use? Trademark use, that is. Heck, it’s getting harder to figure out what’s not “trademark use” these days, as John Welch reports: The CAFC…
Wrong skillset for trademark registration (Best of 2016)
Originally posted on April 28, 2016. John Welch reports, at the TTABlog, about what you’d think would be a no-brainer: The Board affirmed a refusal to register the configuration shown…
In which we blog on some other guy’s dice
What happens in Vegas stays in Albany, NY? #trademarks #hockey https://t.co/7ZVGBLJBto — Tiffany Valeriano (@trademarktiff) December 11, 2016 The story linked to by Tiffany Valeriano explains: The newest NHL franchise,…
Trademark “use in interstate commerce” and the decline of federalism
What’s the use? Trademark use, that is. Heck, it’s getting harder to figure out what’s not “trademark use” these days, as John Welch reports: The CAFC reversed the TTAB’s decision…
Free “legal” advice — pro bono, that is
What do you know? No one can own “pro bono” — regardless of how it’s spelled. John Welch: The USPTO refused registration of the mark PROBOKNOW, in standard character form,…
The best of intentions
Going to the well (i.e., other people’s blogs) again, and what better well than Duets Blog and Steve Baird? In a post a while ago Steve addressed an important topic…