Securing a federal trademark registration is a major milestone—but it is not the end of the journey. To keep your rights strong and enforceable, you need to maintain the registration and actively protect the mark in the...more
For years, Sports Illustrated (SI) has provided exclusive, in-depth looks into some of sports’ greatest games and players, with its voice and visuals providing great entertainment and information for sports fans around the...more
Trademarks help brand owners build and communicate their brand’s reputation and value with the relevant public. Once that valuable goodwill is linked between a mark and the owner’s products and services, trademark owners can...more
Thank you for reading the August 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we conclude our series that explores ways to lose trademark rights with an examination of naked licensing, discuss a...more
On July 18, 2023, the phrase “Taco Tuesday” was returned to the public after Taco John’s submitted a notice of abandonment for its TACO TUESDAY trademark registration before the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s...more
Thank you for reading the June 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we begin a three-part series that closely examines ways to lose trademark rights; share an article that examines the...more
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) dismissed the oppositions of ARSA Distributing, Inc. to the applications of Salud Natural Mexicana S.A. de C.V. to register the...more
Under the Lanham Act, a trademark is considered abandoned “when its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use.” Three consecutive years of nonuse constitutes a prima facie showing of abandonment...more
TIGER LILY VENTURES LTD. v. BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC. Before Lourie, Bryson, and Prost. Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: A trademark associated with a...more
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) recently held that AT&T Mobility, LLC (“AT&T”) had sufficient interest in its almost completely moribund CINGULAR name to oppose two pending trademark applications filed by...more
There were many interesting trademark cases coming out of 2018, a few of which are discussed below. The scope of Canada’s anti-dilution remedy (section 22 of the Trademarks Act) is not limited to a defendant’s use of a...more
The Sixth Circuit recently issued an opinion in NetJets Inc. v. IntelliJet Group, LLC Inc. (unpublished), holding that where a trademark registration is incontestable, it may not be cancelled on the ground that it was void ab...more
Earlier this month, Macy's won a ruling against a company that revives out-of-use, but well-known brands. Strategic Marks LLC is in the business of reviving abandoned brands, sometimes referred to as "zombie" brands, using...more
The TTAB Sets the Rules for Pleading Abandonment of a Section 66(a) Registration - VENM seeks registration of the mark VENM for dance costumes. Dragon Bleu opposed registration of VENM’s mark based on 3 earlier...more