[co-author: Richa Patel, Summer Associate]
The July 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses fluid trademarks and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. Plus, check out the answer key...more
7/26/2021
/ Advertising ,
Artists ,
Brand ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Dispensaries ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Fluid Trademarks ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Logos ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Marketing ,
Product Labels ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Recreational Use ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
TTB
In one of the more drool-worthy co-branding deals we have seen, K-Swiss recently announced a new line of Court 66 sneakers inspired by popular Girl Scout cookie flavors. The shoe boast colors and design elements inspired by...more
The February 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses tips for co-branding arrangements in light of the recent collaboration between K-Swiss and Girl Scouts and an update on access to medical...more
In a recent non-precedential opinion, the TTAB affirmed a refusal to register Melissa & Doug, LLC’s red oval background mark (the “Proposed Mark”), finding that the acquired distinctiveness factors weighed against a finding...more
[co-author: Joseph Diorio, Law Clerk]
The January 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses: a recent non-precedential TTAB decision on background designs; the Trademark Modernization Act;...more
1/29/2021
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Color Marks ,
Domain Names ,
gTLD ,
ICANN ,
Lanham Act ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Utility Patents
Effective January 2, 2021, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will be adjusting – or introducing – a number of Trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) fees. This increase has been a long time coming: the...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
In a precedential decision earlier this month, the TTAB found that a disclaimer of a term is required as to all services in a Class if it is descriptive as to any services in that Class. This decision appears to contravene...more
The May 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses two recent precedential TTAB decisions – one regarding disclaimer scope and the other exploring how to successfully claim trademark rights in the...more
In a recent Federal Circuit ruling, ICCS USA Corp. v. United States, 2019-1561 (Fed. Cir. March 11, 2020), the Court affirmed a decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade with respect to misuse of a certification mark...more
4/7/2020
/ Appeals ,
Certification Marks ,
Counterfeiting ,
Imports ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Reaffirmation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trademarks ,
U.S. Customs ,
Unauthorized Transactions
The March 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter provides practice pointers gleaned from a recent Federal Circuit ruling regarding certification marks and discusses the upcoming addition to the Hague...more
In a recent precedential decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed that the mark SEQUENCING BY BINDING is merely descriptive of goods and services in Classes 1, 9, 10, and 42 related to biological analytes...more
1/6/2020
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Biologics ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Examination Procedures ,
Goods or Services ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Filings ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Utility Patents
The December 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses Pantone's color of 2020, a recent precedential decision about descriptive word marks in patent applications, and the new gTLD sunrise period....more
When it comes to proving use of marks in commerce, perception by consumers is everything. If consumers perceive a mark as identifying only a particular component or feature of the goods in a specimen, the PTO will likely...more
The September 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a component mark case study, LeBron James' recent trademark application, and the current gTLD sunrise period.
In this issue:
-...more
In a recent precedential decision, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) confirmed that a hashtag symbol (#) generally adds little or no source-indicating distinctiveness to a trademark. In this case, rapper...more
9/5/2018
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Domain Names ,
gTLD ,
Hashtags ,
Music Industry ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Trademark Examination ,
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
The August 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses requirements for registering a scent mark, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's confirmation on whether hashtags add distinctiveness to a...more
UGG brand boots are a popular fixture on many holiday wish lists, but did you know that the UGG trademark has been the center of a dispute for the past decade? The comfortable sheepskin boots had a long history prior to their...more
The November 2017 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® discusses another Ugg trademark dispute, pitfalls of holiday specific branding, "types" of protection for font and typeface designs, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise...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 September 2017 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® discusses consent agreements, positive developments in the European community, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise periods.
...more
In a recent precedential decision, the TTAB clarified whether a party filing an Opposition is entitled to allege a family of marks as a basis for a Section 2(d) claim when those marks are not all owned by a single legal...more
The October 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter provides an update on the Redskins trademark case, discusses a recent TTAB ruling regarding ownership of families of marks, and announces the new gTLD...more
11/2/2016
/ Appeals ,
Disparagement ,
Domain Names ,
Federal Trademark Register ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Redskins ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
Last month, Federal Express announced that all of its logos moving forward would use the brand's recognizable purple and orange color scheme. Before this change, each division of the company used different colors paired with...more
The September 2016 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to MarketTM newsletter discusses protecting color as part of brand identity, and announces the new gTLD sunrise periods.
...more