Top Ten Reasons Why US Trademark Searches are Important to Every Business
As we ring in the new year, we thought we would remind everyone why the importance of a comprehensive trademark search for a new company name and for a new trademark cannot be overstated: 1. Any word...
View ArticleThe US Department of Justice Seeks to Intervene in the Washington Redskins’...
Written by: Susan Neuberger Weller The Washington Redskins professional football team will soon not only be battling Native Americans over the registrability of the REDSKINS trademark, but will also...
View Article“Copyright and Marriage Equality Act” Bills Introduced in both the House and...
Written by: Susan Neuberger Weller On January 6, 2015, Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced Senate bill 23 entitled the “Copyright and Marriage Equality Act.” The bill would amend Section 101 of title 17 of...
View ArticleThe US Supreme Court Holds that Juries Should Decide the Issue of Trademark...
Written by: Susan Neuberger Weller In the first substantive trademark decision it has issued in a decade, the US Supreme Court, in Hana Financial, Inc. v. Hana Bank, case number 13-1211 (January 21,...
View ArticleDon’t Even Think About Advertising a SUPER BOWL Party!
Written by: Susan Neuberger Weller As we all know, Super Bowl XLIX will be played this Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona between the defending Champion Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. There...
View ArticleTrademarks and Branding: Need Some Ideas for that New Product Name?
Written by : Susan Neuberger Weller The New York Times Magazine had a very interesting article in its January 18, 2014 issue entitled “Call It What It Is.” The article, written by Neal Gabler, looks...
View ArticleUse It or Lose It: When Can a Trademark Registered Under Section 44(e) or...
Unlike most countries, US trademark law generally requires that a mark be in use before it can be protected. The US recognizes common law rights in unregistered marks if they have been adopted in good...
View ArticleThe Court’s Decision in the FLANAX US Trademark Dispute Gives Bayer a Headache
On February 6, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia reversed the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling in Bayer Consumer Care AG v. Belmora LLC, 110 USPQ2d 1623...
View Article…..and Don’t Even Think About Advertising a MARCH MADNESS Event Either!
Written by: Susan Neuberger Weller It is that time of year again, coming off St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, when everyone gets on the college basketball bandwagon in the season of “MARCH MADNESS.”...
View ArticleA Scandalous Mark to Some, Free Speech to Others: Federal Circuit to Decide...
The Federal Circuit has decided to revisit the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act in the case of In re Shiao Tam, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6840 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 27, 2015). Section 2(a) of...
View ArticleWhen a Quirk of Copyright Law Creates a Christmas Classic: It’s a Wonderful...
Written by: Derek Constantine George Bailey stands on a bridge begging for another chance at life. Upon being granted a second chance, he joyously runs home to embrace his family. As the community of...
View ArticleFederal Circuit Rules Federal Trademark Statute Ban on DIsparaging Marks to...
Today the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the section of the Lanham Act which bans registration of “disparaging” trademarks is an unconstitutional violation of First Amendment free speech....
View ArticleWashington Redskins Haven’t Won Yet: Why the Constitutionality of Section...
What do Washington D.C.’s NFL team, the Redskins, and Mr. Tam’s rock band, The Slants, have in common? Both have enjoyed unexpected victories recently and both have been called “disparaging” by the...
View ArticleMonkey See, Monkey Sue Doesn’t Fly Under U.S. Copyright Law
In August 2014, we posted about a copyright ownership dispute involving selfie photographs. The disputed selfie photographs were taken by a monkey named Naruto in Indonesia in 2011. The photography...
View ArticlePETA Isn’t Monkeying Around With Copyright Ownership Rights
As we reported in a recent post, PETA lost its efforts, on behalf of Naruto the monkey, to secure his claim to copyright ownership of his “selfie” photograph. The district court judge held that the...
View Article
