News & Analysis as of

Lanham Act First Amendment Today's Popular Updates

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Spotlight or Lawsuit? Strategic Brand Use in Film and Media

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

When The White Lotus returned to HBO for its third season, it came with the usual dose of dramatic tension, along with one unexpected intellectual property wrinkle. [WARNING – Potential Plot Spoiler Ahead!] In a particularly...more

Sunstein LLP

Supreme Court Vacates and Remands the Lower Court's Ruling in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC

Sunstein LLP on

In a case that has already garnered extensive media attention due to the fame of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and public curiosity regarding a trademark clash involving whiskey and dog toys, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

To Parody or Not to Parody: The Supreme Court Weighs In

Close on the heels of the unanimous decision in Amgen v. Sanofi, the Supreme Court handed down another unanimous decision in Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products. Justice Kagan wrote the opinion, with Justice Sotomayor and Justice...more

Sunstein LLP

Humvee Goes Into Battle: Will Its Trademarks Leave Tread Marks on Video Game Makers?

Sunstein LLP on

The realism of video games is intensified by the inclusion of products and brands we recognize from daily life. Can the thrill of such verisimilitude coexist alongside the rights of trademark owners?...more

Fish & Richardson

First Amendment 2 – Lanham Act 0: Federal Circuit Holds Lanham Act Prohibition on Immoral and Scandalous Marks Is Unconstitutional...

Fish & Richardson on

In the wake of the In re Tam decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, on December 15, 2017, the Federal Circuit held that the Lanham Act Section 2(a) prohibition on the registration of immoral and scandalous marks is a...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Are Offensive Trademark Registrations On The Rise?

Fox Rothschild LLP on

In direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down the constitutionality of section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which as enacted barred the registration of disparaging trademarks, there is reason to believe...more

Jones Day

Siding with The Slants: Ban on Disparaging Marks Held Unconstitutional

Jones Day on

Asian rock band The Slants is no longer "The Band Who Must Not Be Named," as they titled their most recent album. On June 19, 2017, the United States Supreme Court decided Matal v. Tam, striking a provision of the Lanham Act,...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Intellectual Property Bulletin - Winter 2017

Fenwick & West LLP on

A Smooth Patch in a Rough Road? Governmental Transition and Intellectual Property - Whenever a new Congress convenes, some IP issues come to the fore while others take a back seat. Transition to a new administration in the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Supreme Court to Review Registrability of Disparaging Trademarks

McDermott Will & Emery on

On September 29, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a petition for certiorari to consider the constitutionality of a provision of the US trademark laws directed to the registrability of disparaging...more

K&L Gates LLP

Trademark Law Update: SCOTUS to Decide Whether Ban on Registering “Disparaging Marks” Is Unconstitutional

K&L Gates LLP on

Under section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may refuse to register any trademark that “[c]onsists of . . . matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

The SLANTS Trademark Will Play One More Gig: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of Ban on Disparaging Trademarks

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will review whether the U.S. Trademark Office can deny registration of offensive trademarks or whether such prohibition violates the First Amendment. The dispute affects the...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

USPTO To Suspend New Trademark Applications Containing Scandalous Or Disparaging Material

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

On March 10, 2016, The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued new examination guidance for trademark applications containing potentially immoral or scandalous matter, which is expressly prohibited by...more

King & Spalding

2015 U.S. Trademark Developments Every Food and Beverage Lawyer Should Know

King & Spalding on

In 2015, U.S. courts provided trademark practitioners with several issues to discuss and debate. Identified and summarized below are the top five most discussed issues....more

Cooley LLP

Alert: Federal Court Upholds Cancellation of REDSKINS Trademark Registration

Cooley LLP on

On July 8, 2015, a federal district court in Virginia upheld a ruling canceling six federal trademark registrations incorporating the term REDSKINS owned by the Washington, D.C. football team. The court agreed with the...more

BakerHostetler

In re Tam – Federal Circuit Orders En Banc Review of Trademark Act’s Ban Against Registration of Disparaging Marks

BakerHostetler on

The Slants is a Portland-based band composed of musicians of Asian-American descent who characterize their genre as “Chinatown Dance Rock.” The band’s bassist, Simon Tam, filed a trademark application for THE SLANTS for...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

A Scandalous Mark to Some, Free Speech to Others: Federal Circuit to Decide Whether Controversial Limit on Trademark Registrations...

The Federal Circuit has decided to revisit the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act in the case of In re Shiao Tam, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6840 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 27, 2015). Section 2(a) of the Lanham act allows the...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

Washington Redskins Challenge the Constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act

The Washington Redskins trademark controversy is far from over. Despite the fact that certain news and sports commentators and mainstream newspapers and organizations have announced that they will no longer use the term...more

17 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide