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Generic Marks United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Litigation

Mayer Brown

Key Court Decisions: Functional and Generic Trademarks

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In this episode of The Upper Brand, Richard Assmus, Kristine Young, and Christa Cole delve into key court cases that have shaped trademark law. They explore the intricacies of functional and generic trademarks, with insights...more

International Lawyers Network

Can Non-English Language Trademarks Be Refused Registration Based on the Foreign Equivalents Doctrine?

Suppose that you want to register your trademark that is in a non-English language on goods or services for your business in the United States. Will your non-English language trademark need to be translated to English to...more

Knobbe Martens

Coloring Within the Lines: The Genericness Test for Color Trademarks

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IN RE: PT MEDISAFE TECHNOLOGIES - Before Prost, Clevenger, and Stark. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A proposed color mark was found generic where the relevant public perceived the color to be a common...more

Fish & Richardson

Green Glove Trademark Application Gets Red Light From Federal Circuit

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In a precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently blessed the test used by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) for denying registration to PT Medisafe Technologies for a...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Stylish but Generic: ‘VETEMENTS’ Can’t Dress Up as Trademark

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s refusal to register the mark VETEMENTS for clothing and related retail services, finding that the mark was generic under the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Green Light to Register Color Mark for Medical Gloves

Addressing for the first time the test for determining whether a color mark is generic, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit adopted the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s Milwaukee test as the appropriate standard,...more

ArentFox Schiff

It’s Not Easy Being Green (If You Are a Color Trademark for Medical Gloves)

ArentFox Schiff on

In refusing registration of the color green for “chloroprene medical examination gloves,” the Federal Circuit adopted — for the first time — a legal test for genericness of color marks. The decision underscores the high...more

International Lawyers Network

Can U.S. Trademark Registrations Be Cancelled for Genericness?

Suppose that you have obtained a U.S. trademark registration for your trademark on goods or services for your business. Can your trademark registration be cancelled with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

A SUPER HERO-ic Trademark Takedown

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Last month, the creators of beloved characters like “Superman” and “Spider-Man” declined to come to their own rescue when their SUPER HERO and SUPER HEROES registrations were cancelled by a default judgment from the U.S....more

Womble Bond Dickinson

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane - It’s in the Public Domain! USPTO Cancels Marvel and DC Comics’ Trademarks for SUPER HERO and SUPER...

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has done what Thanos and Lex Luthor never could—defeat the larger than life combined forces of Marvel and DC. Despite being well-known rivals, DC (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and...more

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, April 2024: Chile/Chili Crunch, Jelly Roll, and Seltzer Sales

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Every month, Erise’s trademark attorneys review the latest developments at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in the courts, and across the corporate world to bring you the stories that you should know about: David...more

Vondran Legal

Proper grounds to cancel another companies trademark

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In business, trademarks are everything. It's how consumers come to know, love and trust your brand. It's a valuable corporate asset, and many disputes can arise of name rights with the explosion of e-commerce and the...more

Smith Anderson

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Enters the Cheese Wars: Determining Genericness for Trademark Registration

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Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit considered whether “gruyere” cheese can be registered as a trademark in the United States, or whether it is merely a generic term that is not entitled to...more

Fish & Richardson

TTAB Rules Consumer Perception Remains the Critical Inquiry for Generic.gTLD Marks

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In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a rule that the combination of a generic term and a generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) is per se generic. See USPTO v. Booking.com B.V., 140 S. Ct. 2298 (2020) (“Booking.com”). In...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - July 2023: How to Lose a Mark in 3 Ways – Part 2: Genericide

One of the signs of a healthy trademark is a certain level of distinctiveness. Distinctiveness is related to consumers’ love and recognition of a mark as an indicator of a product’s source, such that consumers trust the mark...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - July 2023

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

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - May 2023: TACO TUESDAY – Generic Term, Failure to Function, or BOTH

Taco Bell’s recent efforts to liberate the phrase “Taco Tuesday” presents an opportunity to review the distinctions between marks that are generic and those that fail to function as a trademark....more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Fourth Circuit Confirms That ‘Gruyere’ is Generic for Cheese

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The appellants, Interprofession du Gruyère and Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère, are two consortiums, Swiss and French, that regulate use of the term ‘gruyere’ to refer only to cheeses produced in the Gruyère district...more

McDermott Will & Emery

PTO Lowers the Bar for Genericness Refusals

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The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) recently issued Examination Guide 1-22, Clarification of Examination Evidentiary Standard for Marks Refused as Generic (Guide 1-22), which amends the PTO’s stance on the appropriate...more

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

Federal Circuit Affirms Refusal to Register Generic Top-Level Domain Trademarks

On February 2, in In re: Vox Populi Registry Ltd., the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to register a standard character mark and a stylized mark, both related to the “.sucks”...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Shifting Gears: A Quick Tour of Genericide

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Have you ever been to an indoor cycling class? If so, you most likely have heard the term “spin class,” or referred to the act itself as “spinning.” Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. would take offense, however, calling such uses...more

Jones Day

JONES DAY TALKS®: Women in IP: 2020 in Review and a Look Toward 2021

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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

McAfee & Taft

What this year’s Supreme Court opinions mean for you

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2020 was a tumultuous year. And while you were busy shifting to online meetings, implementing new measures to keep employees and customers safe, and otherwise adapting to the challenges created by the coronavirus, the U.S....more

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