In Lahoti v. Vericheck, Inc., the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals outlined the distinctiveness standard and made an important ruling regarding the registration of highly similar marks by third parties.
Read MoreIn protecting a brand in social networking sites, one should be aware of the procedures for submitting complaints about copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and privacy concerns across the various platforms.
Read MoreThis article is a review of the developments in the trademark infringement case of Starbucks Corp. v. Wolfe’s Borough Coffee, Inc. and discusses trademark dilution and degrees of similarities for likelihood of confusion.
Read MoreIn University of South Carolina v. University of Southern California, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that a lack of evidence of actual confusion isn’t necessarily the final word on the likelihood of confusion issue.
Read MoreIn Toyota Motor Sales v. Tabari, the nominative fair use doctrine as a defense to trademark infringement liability was reviewed.
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As part of your initial due diligence in investigating trade secret cases - whether on the offense or defensive, it is important to confirm whether copyrights or patents have been filed on the same or similar subject matter as the trade secret in the suit.
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In an article about SteamVR, a home virtual reality system with a rather bulky set-up, the developer said the benefits outweighed the cost of the bulkiness—so much so that it would be like saying, “I have an IMAX in my house.”
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An Amazon customer runs a search for “MTM Special Ops” and a multitude of watches appear on the screen, but none are MTM Special Ops watches, and nothing on the search results page alerts the customer to that fact. For that MTM sued Amazon for initial interest confusion.
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A Mompreneur, Terri Kelly, battles shoe giant Sketchers over use of slogan “Yoga Pants for Your Feet.” Sketchers claims phrase is merely descriptive.
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Confidential information and trade secrets may have been leaked in Major League Baseball scandal involving St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros. Article by Klemchuk LLP, a trade secret law firm.
Read MoreNew Coca-Cola cans feature no labels - lesson on branding, trademarks, and source identifiers. Article by Klemchuk LLP, a trade dress law firm.
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Mary Kay files suit agains RetailMeNot for use of its brand name without authorization. The online coupon giant claims free speech in use of Mary Kay’s brand name and logo on its site.
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Artist Richard Prince makes $90k a pop on unauthorized use of third party Instagram images. Is it copyright infringement? Probably not.
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Trademarks for REDSKINS and THE SLANTS raise questions on registerability of marks found to be disparaging. Article by Klemchuk LLP, a trademark law firm.
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The federal government seeks to seize the Mongol Nation logo due to member convictions of racketeering and conspiracy charges. The American Civil Liberties Union teamed up with the club to halt what its attorney called “an outrageous violation of the First Amendment and an absolute abuse of forfeiture and trademark laws.”
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Despite the label, incontestable marks can still be contested. An accused infringer can always argue that they are not actually infringing the mark at all due to the respective mark differences, the differences in use or commercial impression, etc.
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The Fourth Circuit decided that online article by The Radiance Foundation criticizing the NAACP, titled “National Association for the Abortion of Colored People,” did not infringe on the NAACP’s trademark.
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Because of a trademark issue, the Apple Watch may be blocked from being sold in Switzerland as Leonard Timepieces has a trademark that prevents third parties from using “apple” or showing the image of an apple in class 14, which includes jewelry, precious stones, timepieces, and watches.
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Texas through GLO is the owner of the premises of The Alamo and owns the image of THE ALAMO and the right to commercialize that image to whatever extent the State, as owner, decides to do so. Commercial use of the image of the Alamo requires licensing.
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Adidas filed suit against Marc Jacobs to protect its iconic “Three Stripe Mark.” Along with trademark infringement, the complaint accuses Marc Jacobs of unfair competition, trademark dilution and deceptive trade practices. Does Adidas have a strong case?
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