Understanding trademark “fame”
When it comes to trademarks, there’s famous, and there’s famous. As Professor Tom McCarthy explains, via John Welch, one kind of trademark famous is the... Read more
Category: TTAB Practice
Powerful precedent
The TTABlog: Whenever the TTAB issues a precedential decision, I try to discern what point the Board is trying to make. Good idea! When it... Read more
Best of 2009: “Keeping it real — the ultimate use in commerce”
This was first posted on May 7, 2009. The TTABlog® reports, again, on the fraud issue, but that’s not what interests me here so much... Read more
When you say BUD®
Disputes involving the great BUDWEISER trademark are even older than LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION® — the blog, not the secondary meaning thing. You know that because... Read more
Secret defrauder ring (UPDATED)
I want one, too! What is the FRAUD-O-METER™? Its creator, John Welch, explains: Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that... Read more
Hot fun in the summertime
Not quite hot. Not quite the summertime, either. But close enough to either — and especially fun, not only because we love what we do... Read more
Explicitly yours
Tomorrow I will be on a panel called “Warning, the Following Material May Be Explicit: Addressing the Efficacy of §2(a) of the Lanham Act” as part... Read more
A catalog of errors
To register a trademark you need to provide the Patent and Trademark Office with something called a “specimen.” The definition of “specimen” under the PTO’s... Read more
Best of 2008: “‘Scandalousness’ Remains a Lightning Rod at the TTAB'” (September)
This was posted on September 24, 2008: John Welch reports on an interesting, not quite safe for home viewing case called Boston Red Sox Baseball... Read more