Consent agreements - in which a prior U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rights-holder provides consent to registration of a later-filed trademark - can be an efficient path to registration in situations where the...more
In May of 2014, this newsletter discussed the prevalence of trademark and domain name scams, and offered tips on how to avoid being duped by fake service offerings (see "Scammers Still Be Scamming" here). Unfortunately,...more
It’s happened to the best of us -- the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") suspends action on an application based on a potential likelihood of confusion with a prior filed/pending application, essentially...more
The Supreme Court’s June 19, 2017 decision in the Matal v. Tam case has been burning-up the news wires all week. The decision struck down a 70-year-old ban on federally registering disparaging trademarks, finding that the...more
7/5/2017
/ Brand Registry ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Matal v Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The January 2017 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® includes an overview of the TTAB's recent surname decisions, the changes made by the USPTO to their trademark processing and services fees, and lists the new gTLD...more
The November 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® includes practical tips for registering certification marks, a look at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's latest revisions to the Rules of Practice-its most...more
In today's marketplace, companies are constantly seeking their moment, day, or --if they are lucky--year on the top of the "best of" list for new, unique, and/or fabulously redesigned goods or services. The sheer number of...more
For use-based trademark applications filed under §1(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051(a), applicants must submit the application along with one specimen per Class showing use of the mark for the covered goods and...more
The June 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter discusses the rise in additional specimen requests from the USPTO, examines the TTAB's decision in In re Florists' Transworld Delivery, Inc., and notes...more
On April 30, 2016, the USPTO issued the April 2016 Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure ("TMEP"), the latest update to the go-to resource for how to prosecute applications to register trademarks with the USPTO.
This...more
The May 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter discusses the April 2016 revisions to the USPTO's Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure ("TMEP") and notes currently open gTLD Sunrise Periods.
...more
When deciding how to describe goods and services in a trademark application, applicants often err on one side of two extremes:
1. they either describe their goods/services very specifically, which may help circumvent...more
The April 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter discusses (1) the evolving nature of the USPTO's U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual, and how to use this document to craft better...more
In a recent (non-precedential) decision , the TTAB refused to register the mark MEAT CANDY as being merely descriptive of Applicant's restaurant services. To anyone who is not a meat connoisseur, a 2(e)(1) refusal seems to be...more
The Wall Street Journal recently reported the spike in e-book sales of Alison Waines' two-year-old novel, Girl on a Train. The cause? Apparently, some customers thought they were purchasing The New York Times' best seller...more
Brand owners seeking federal protection for their service marks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") often struggle with how to define their services in the application.
While the Trademark Act defines...more
For a mobile application developer, clearing the Apple® App Store's® often lengthy approval process and seeing the mobile application available for purchase may seem like the last necessary step to establish use of the name...more
As you may have heard, the USPTO has commenced a pilot program to allow, under limited circumstances, amendments to identifications of goods/services in trademark registrations to account for evolving technology. Amendments...more
The September issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market™ newsletter discusses considerations when filing a petition under the USPTO pilot program, outlines what you should know when protecting a trademark for wearable...more
Consent agreements - in which a prior U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rights-holder provides consent to registration of a later-filed trademark - can be an efficient path to registration in situations where the...more
The August issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter discusses consent agreements and how to avoid naked consent, suggests 5 steps for protecting shrinking trademarks, and provides an updated list of the Sunrise...more
Brand owners have embraced hashtags (words or phrases preceded by a hash or pound sign - #) as a way to both engage consumers and track social media posts regarding a specific product or topic. Not surprisingly, the...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a final rule codifying current USPTO practice relating to certification marks.
Certification marks are used by authorized users to indicate the following:...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
For several years now, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been concerned about the amount of "deadwood" on the U.S. trademark Register – registrations that remain in force, but cover marks that are not actually...more