The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the test for determining whether a word mark is generic also applies to color marks....more
5/6/2025
/ Appeals ,
CAFC ,
Color Marks ,
Generic Marks ,
Goods or Services ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
The Supreme Court vacates a decision treating a company and its affiliates as "one and the same" for purposes of disgorging profits for trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, but leaves many questions unaddressed....more
3/5/2025
/ Affiliates ,
Corporate Governance ,
Damages ,
Dewberry Group Inc v Dewberry Engineers Inc ,
Disgorgement ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Piercing the Corporate Veil ,
Profits ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") will raise trademark fees across the board and introduce new application surcharges starting January 18, 2025....more
Scams related to U.S. trademark filings are becoming more common and sophisticated, making these scams increasingly difficult for trademark owners to identify....more
On November 19, 2024, a jury found that online retailer Vintage Brand LLC and its manufacturer Sportswear Inc. infringed the Pennsylvania State University's ("Penn State") trademarks in connection with the sale of merchandise...more
In a closely watched trademark infringement case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that when an alleged infringer uses a trademark as a source identifier for the infringer's own products, the First Amendment does...more
6/19/2023
/ Dilution ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks
In a closely watched trademark infringement case involving non-fungible tokens ("NFTs"), a jury found that the sale of digital images of Hermès's Birkin bags as NFTs infringed and diluted Hermès's trademarks....more
2/14/2023
/ Artistic Works ,
Consumer Confusion ,
Digital Assets ,
Dilution ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
In Short -
The Situation: The metaverse provides new commercial opportunities for businesses to reach consumers and creates new challenges for protecting and enforcing brands in a virtual environment....more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded The Ohio State University a trademark for the word “THE,” for use in connection with apparel sold in "channels customary to the field of sports and collegiate...more
This year kicked off with new tools to help brand owners protect and enforce their marks.
The use of a trademark in commerce is an important aspect of U.S. trademark law; however, an increasing number of trademark...more
Jones Day partners Meredith Wilkes, Patricia Campbell, and Sarah Geers discuss the implementation of the Trademark Modernization Act, the recent decision in Thaler v Hirshfeld – a case involving protections for works created...more
For nearly 30 years, the inclusion of a trademark in the design of a defendant's product did not mean much in the design patent infringement analysis. That changed on August 6, 2021, in Columbia Sportswear North America, Inc....more
Signed into law in July of 1946, the Lanham Act has, for 75 years, governed U.S. trademark, servicemark, and unfair competition matters. In this edition of the Jones Day Talks Women in IP series, Meredith Wilkes, Anna Raimer,...more
6/24/2021
/ Dilution ,
Domain Names ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Service Marks ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair Competition ,
Willful Infringement
In this White Paper, we share observations on 2020's most significant developments in trademark law. This year, the U.S. Supreme Court penned three opinions concerning what constitutes a protectable trademark, available...more
The Situation: Changes to the Trademark Act were called for due to a Circuit split regarding the standard for injunctive relief in trademark infringement cases and an increase in fraudulent trademark applications and...more
Jones Day's Meredith Wilkes and Anna Raimer discuss 2020's most significant developments in trademark law and preview what's to come in 2021, including possible progress in Washington on the highly anticipated Trademark...more
12/10/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Application Fees ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Counterfeiting ,
Defense Preclusion ,
Dilution ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Electronic Filing ,
Generic Marks ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Lanham Act ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Oral Argument ,
Oral Hearings ,
Registration Fees ,
Remedies ,
Res Judicata ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO ,
Websites ,
Willful Infringement
A federal appeals court has overturned Tiffany & Co’s $21 million judgment against Costco Wholesale over the retail chain’s sale of diamond engagement rings with the "Tiffany" name. Jones Day partners Meredith Wilkes and...more
9/11/2020
/ Appeals ,
Costco ,
Counterfeiting ,
Evidence ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Retailers ,
Summary Judgment ,
Tiffany and Company ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks
A generic.com term may be eligible for trademark protection if consumers perceive the term as a source identifier.
The combination of a generic word plus ".com" does not necessarily equal a generic term. Instead, in an 8–1...more
7/13/2020
/ 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
In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of jeans manufacturer, Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. ("Lucky"), in its protracted trademark battle with Marcel Fashions Group, Inc. ("Marcel"), holding that Lucky...more
5/19/2020
/ Claim Preclusion ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Counterclaims ,
Defense Preclusion ,
Fashion Branding ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Release Agreements ,
Res Judicata ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., Case No. 18-1233, that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show willfulness to recover a defendant's profits...more
5/1/2020
/ § 1125(a) ,
§ 1125(c) ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Dilution ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Infringement
Statistics from 2018 reveal that .03% of trademark applications were paper filed. As such, effective February 15, 2020, paper trademark filings are no longer an option. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO")...more
2/20/2020
/ Electronic Filing ,
Email ,
New Rules ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) ,
Trademark Examination ,
Trademark Examination Guide ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Specimen ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent 9-0 decision in Peter v. NantKwest, Inc., Case No. 18-801, informs strategic cost considerations in appeals challenging adverse decisions issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office...more
12/17/2019
/ 35 U.S.C. § 145 ,
American Rule ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Civil Claims ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Lanham Act ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Applicants ,
Peter v NantKwest Inc ,
Prevailing Party ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 145 ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Mission Product Holdings v. Tempnology, LLC holds interesting implications for both trademark law and bankruptcy law. Also, in Iancu v. Brunetti, the Court confirmed that trademarks cannot...more
Supreme Court rules that the Lanham Act's statutory bar against registering immoral or scandalous marks violates the First Amendment.
On June 24, 2019, in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. __ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court...more
6/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
Bankruptcy protection under Section 365 does not give brand owners/debtor-licensors the unilateral right to rescind trademark licensing agreements.
In a closely watched decision involving both trademark and bankruptcy law,...more
5/31/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Exclusions ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks ,
Trustees