Thank you for reading the February 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the advertising rights of luxury resellers and important updates to the Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy...more
3/1/2024
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Counterfeiting ,
Damages ,
Discovery ,
False Advertising ,
First Sale Doctrine ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Petrella v. MGM ,
SCOTUS ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair Competition
Thank you for reading the November 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the USPTO's recently published alert reminding filers and practitioners of its Code of Conduct when...more
11/30/2023
/ Anti-Piracy ,
Appropriate Business Decorum ,
Code of Conduct ,
Counterfeiting ,
Courtesy Policy ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legal Ethics ,
Marketing ,
NFL ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Sports ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In today’s digital world, online marketplaces have become hotspots for organized crime, particularly relating to the sale of stolen and counterfeit goods by third-party sellers. These fraudulent sales mislead consumers, cost...more
8/2/2023
/ Advertising ,
Brand ,
Buyers ,
Consumers ,
Counterfeiting ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Information Sharing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet Retailers ,
Marketing ,
New Legislation ,
Online Marketplace ,
Sellers ,
Third-Party ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks ,
Transparency
Thank you for reading the July 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we continue our three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights with a discussion of genericide. We...more
8/1/2023
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Advertising ,
Brand ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Branding ,
Counterfeiting ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Generic Marks ,
Genericide ,
Goods or Services ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Listing Rules ,
Marketing ,
Online Marketplace ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sellers ,
Third-Party ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
USPTO
Why do most consumers prefer to purchase expensive goods in person? Do they value the trust factor of seeing and knowing what they are buying? Do they need to feel confident that the item is worth the price? As the pandemic...more
[co-author: Joseph Diorio, Law Clerk]
The November 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a rare failure-to-function refusal reversal at the TTAB, Google's efforts to combat counterfeit goods,...more
12/2/2020
/ Counterfeiting ,
Domain Names ,
Filing Fees ,
Google ,
gTLD ,
Online Marketplace ,
Reversal ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Blockchain technology has garnered attention from various sectors over the past ten years, much of it due to the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies have gained popularity and notoriety for their...more
6/28/2019
/ Authentication ,
Blockchain ,
Brand ,
Counterfeiting ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersquatting ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Domain Names ,
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Popular ,
Smart Contracts ,
Trade Names ,
Trademarks
We jest! Because, of course, Vandelay Industries – famed import/export company referenced by Seinfeld character George Costanza’s (and owned by the multi-talented “Art Vandelay”) -- is fictitious. But for actual...more
The July 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses how to maintain rights in core trademarks as brands evolve, a reminder regarding importer and exporter liability for shipping counterfeit goods,...more
8/1/2018
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Counterfeiting ,
Domain Names ,
Exports ,
gTLD ,
Imports ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademarks
It is hard to find something positive to say about counterfeiting. It costs businesses billions of dollars in lost sales and eroded goodwill every year. It poses a real threat to consumer health and safety. And it funds...more
The May 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® discusses how counterfeiting can help your brand strategy, considers the trend of "branding" clinical trials, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise Periods.
...more
On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the Lanham Act’s prohibitions on registering scandalous and immoral marks discriminated based on content, and violated the First Amendment (In...more
1/3/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Branding ,
Counterfeiting ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
Everyone knows that counterfeiting is bad business for brands – it weakens consumer confidence and brand loyalty, erodes goodwill, and creates liability issues -- but this month online retailer Etsy learned that...more
The May issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter covers the negative impact of counterfeiting on e-commerce websites, recent changes in Russian trademark law, and an updated list of the Sunrise periods...more
In This Issue:
- I Second that e-Motion: Protecting Motion Marks
- USPTO Begins Accepting International Design Applications
- Attending INTA Annual Meeting
- gTLD Sunrise Periods Now Open
- Excerpt...more
When Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web in 1990 as a tool to share information among specialized researchers, he likely did not anticipate the degree to which his invention would radically change — in just a few...more
Many U.S. brand owners already work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to keep counterfeit products out of the U.S. CBP examines cargo at more than 300 ports...more
The February issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter provides takeaways from the Supreme Court's Hana Financial decision, identifies a new anti-counterfeiting tool for owners of Canadian trademarks and...more