The last year has seen urgent discussions concerning racism, discrimination, police violence, inequality, and social justice come to the forefront of life in the United States. Corporate America – and its brands – responded...more
4/21/2021
/ Abandonment ,
Black Lives Matter ,
Corporate Branding ,
Corporate Culture ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Human Rights ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Matal v Tam ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Rebranding ,
Social Media ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and the act was signed into law on December 27, 2020. But don’t let the bland title fool you. ...more
The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) issues new guidance for trademark applications covering certain cheese and processed meat products when an applied-for mark includes geographic wording that does not...more
The United States Supreme Court holds that adding a top-level domain, like “.com”, to an otherwise generic term does not automatically result in a generic composite, and that a genericness determination must consider the...more
7/6/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
The United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) announces a new prioritized trademark examination program for certain trademark applications covering COVID-19 related products and services. ...more
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court announced its opinion in Iancu v. Brunetti, holding that the Lanham Act’s provisions barring the registration of “scandalous” or “immoral” trademarks are unconstitutional under the First...more
6/25/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
Brand owners seeking to register cannabis-related trademarks take note: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued guidance regarding the effects of the 2018 Farm Bill on the registration of trademarks for...more
6/4/2019
/ Brand ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
GRAS ,
Hemp ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Marijuana-Infused Edibles ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
For any baseball fans already preparing to capitalize when their favorite team wins their next World Series game, you may strike out before getting up to bat at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) in the United...more