News & Analysis as of

Likelihood of Confusion Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Lanham Act

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

When Surfboards and Superstars Collide: How to Avoid a Wipeout [or Mayhem]

Pop icon Lady Gaga is no stranger to making waves, but a new lawsuit initiated by California-based surfboard company Lost International (aka Lost Surfboards), shows that even superstars can find themselves navigating choppy...more

Knobbe Martens

Fireball Frenzy: When First Registering a Mark, Genericness of a Mark Is Determined at the Time of Registration

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BULLSHINE DISTILLERY LLC v. SAZERAC BRANDS, LLC - Before Moore, Reyna and Taranto. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In assessing genericness, the TTAB considers how the mark was understood at the time of...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Opposers Beware: Your Own Mark May Not Be Protectable

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of an opposition to the registration of the marks IVOTERS and IVOTERS.COM while also noting that the US Patent &...more

Fish & Richardson

TTAB Puts Pool Hall Behind the 8 Ball

Fish & Richardson on

On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) granted an opposition filed by Jack’s Family Restaurants, LP, and denied an application filed by Jack’s Grill and Billiards, Inc., to register JACK’S...more

Fish & Richardson

Trademark Owners May Play Only Zone Defense at the TTAB

Fish & Richardson on

In a precedential decision invoking the “zone of natural expansion” doctrine, on March 19, 2025, the Federal Circuit upheld a decision by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) cancelling in part registrations for...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Zone of Natural Expansion Is a Shield, Not a Sword

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board decision to partially cancel trademarks, ruling that an opposition challenger could not use the zone of natural expansion doctrine to...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Bull: Historically Generic Term Can Become Non-Generic

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed Trademark Trial & Appeal Board rulings, finding that a previously generic term was not generic at the time registration was sought because at that time the mark, as...more

Fish & Richardson

USPTO Kicks “Hijacker” of Foreign Trademark Out the Door

Fish & Richardson on

When, if ever, is it okay to use a trademark in U.S. commerce that is identical to another company’s mark used outside the U.S.? Courts have struggled with this issue for years, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more

Baker Donelson

Baker's Trademark Developments of 2024

Baker Donelson on

2024 has been a busy year in all intellectual property. It has been especially busy in trademark law. Here are the top seven cases in trademark law to date....more

Haug Partners LLP

Third Circuit Rules That Trademark Cancellation Proceedings Before The TTAB Do Not Preclude Later Infringement Lawsuits In Federal...

Haug Partners LLP on

On September 17, 2021, in Beasley v. Howard, 14 F.4th 226 (3d Cir. 2021), the Third Circuit joined the Second and Ninth Circuits in ruling that prior trademark cancellation actions in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

The TTAB: “Knowing Intent To Deceive” Is The Lynchpin Of A Fraud Claim

Fox Rothschild LLP on

All TTAB practitioners are familiar with the heightened standard of proof required to prove fraud before the USPTO. However, many forget that proving an intent to deceive the USPTO, not the falsity of the statement or its...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Collective Membership And Preserving The Heritage of Pierce Arrow

In a recent decision concerning the scope of protection for collective membership marks, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sustained The Pierce-Arrow Society’s opposition to registration of PIERCE-ARROW for “automobiles”...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Federal Circuit Denies Louis Vuitton’s “Apogée” Registration

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Apogée or ApHogee: that is the question. Do those look or sound similar to you? Not to Louis Vuitton. But the Federal Circuit disagreed, and on July 5 ruled that the luxury brand could not register the word “Apogée” as a...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Adidas Fights to Protect its Three-Stripe Mark

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Can three stripes be protected as intellectual property? That question is now before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”). Adidas AG (“Adidas”), the German sportswear giant, instantly recognizable for its...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

The Katten Kattwalk | Issue 12

The Katten Kattwalk discusses legal issues in the fashion industry affecting the trademarks, patents and copyrights associated with companies, brands and products. ...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

McNees 2016 In Review – Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents

The year 2016 saw interesting and diverse developments in trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent law. Not only has intellectual property news been in the headlines, but these areas have made it to the Supreme Court....more

Knobbe Martens

More Than Zero: Under the Lanham Act, One Interstate Sale Qualifies as Actual Use of a Trademark in Commerce

Knobbe Martens on

In 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected shoe manufacturer Adidas’s application to trademark the phrase “ADIZERO,” due to a likelihood of confusion with an existing mark: “ADD A ZERO,” a clothing trademark held...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Supplemental Registrations – Actually Worth a Hill of (Coffee) Beans

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The potential defensive value of a registration on the Supplemental Register is highlighted in a recent opinion of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, In re Morinaga Nyugyo Kabushiki Kaisha. While we often think of...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Empire State Building Trademark Owner Vanquishes Beer Logo Design

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Can you trademark a building design? You can if the building in question is the Empire State Building. In the film classic King Kong, the iconic art deco building is the site of a titanic battle between Kong and the military...more

WilmerHale

Copyright and Trademark Case Review: Sibling Rivalry, Grilled Meat and Attorneys' Fees

WilmerHale on

Copyright Opinions - Sixth Circuit Upholds Siblings' Termination of Brother's Copyright Assignment: Brumley v. Albert E. Brumley & Sons, Inc., No. 15-5429 (6th Cir. May 16, 2016) - Sutton, J. In a declaratory...more

WilmerHale

Copyright and Trademark Case Review: FLANAX, Fishing Tackle, Football Players and More

WilmerHale on

Summaries of Recent Precedential and Informative Appellate Opinions - Trademark Opinions - Owners of Foreign Marks May Sue Under Lanham Act Without Using Marks in the US: Belmora LLC v. Bayer Consumer Care AG,...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

The Katten Kattwalk - Issue 08

The Katten Kattwalk discusses legal issues in the fashion industry affecting the trademarks, patents and copyrights associated with companies, brands and products. Letter From the Editor - Fashion Week has come and...more

Knobbe Martens

Trademark Review | August 2015

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The Redskins Lose Again (Off the Field)- A federal District Court affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) ruling that “Redskins” cannot be registered as a trademark for use in connection with a...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Litigation Alert: U.S. Supreme Court Raises the Stakes in Trademark Proceedings at the TTAB

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This week, the Supreme Court issued an important ruling that will significantly impact the way parties handle trademark disputes in the United States. The opinion in B&B Hardware, Inv. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., 575 U.S....more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Flummoxed By FLANAX: TTAB Cancels Trademark Registration Based On Misrepresentation As To Source Despite No Use In U.S. By...

In an interesting precedential decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) canceled a registration for FLANAX despite the fact that the petitioner, Bayer Consumer Care AG, did not use FLANAX in the United States,...more

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