The Briefing: COVID 19 Bill Stimulates the Economy and Changes in the Intellectual Property Law
As any marketing expert will tell you, the best trademarks are both creative and unique. Such “strong” trademarks are more memorable and set a product apart from competitors’ products....more
U.S. trademark rights stop at the border. If your business operates internationally or plans to expand abroad, you need to understand how to protect your trademark rights beyond the United States. Unlike the U.S., many...more
On July 16, 2025, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced new practices related to trademark examination and the acceptance of recommendations for pre-approved goods and services....more
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has issued updated statutory guidance for UK trade mark applicants following the seminal UK Supreme Court decision in Sky v SkyKick1 (the SkyKick Decision). This guidance, detailed...more
Summary Trade dress is a powerful intellectual property (IP) tool that can be used to protect the distinctive non-functional “look and feel" of a product’s design, shape and/or 3D configuration.[1] Product manufacturers and...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) previously announced a final trademark rule that will increase application filing, renewal, and other trademark-related fees effective January 18, 2025. The USPTO’s new fee...more
The Guitar Hotel in Hollywood, Florida is a hotel in the shape of the body of a guitar, with six lit-up “strings” running vertically up the surface of the building. At 7 pm daily, the hotel conducts a music and light show...more
Charity seeking to register product designs as trademark icon not met the “very high burden” for showing acquired distinctiveness - On September 1, 2023 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a nonprecedential...more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
Earlier this week, we reported upon a new development for accelerating examination of Canadian trademark applications. However, the Trademarks Office has backtracked, imposing the previous, more onerous requirements for...more
This spring, join our Smart & Biggar trademark experts and gain new insights at our popular Canadian Trademarks webinar series. Each webinar provides practical tips and strategies for global brand protection in Canada, with a...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) recently issued a precedential decision clarifying the circumstances under which an artist can obtain a trademark registration...more
The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that starting on December 3, 2022, those filing trademark applications will have three months (instead of the original six) to respond to office actions during...more
Is your trademark registered? Should you register it? Why should you register it? What do you have to do? What does the process look like? Can you do it yourself or do you need to hire an attorney? These are just a few of the...more
For many years, companies and individuals filing applications to register trademarks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office enjoyed a rather quick examination process. Examining attorneys at the Trademark Office reviewed...more
When a corporation expands its business into Canada, consideration should be given to whether it can register its brand as a trademark in this new market. While a corporation may operate in this market without registered...more
The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (the “TMA”) was buried in the enormous COVID relief and stimulus bill (i.e., the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021), signed into law on December 27, 2020. The TMA amends federal...more
In this episode, Scott and Josh discuss the changes in Intellectual Property Law stemming from the recently passed COVID-19 Stimulus Bill. The IP law blog is a publication of Weintraub Tobin (www.weintraub.com). The...more
In this White Paper, we share observations on 2020's most significant developments in trademark law. This year, the U.S. Supreme Court penned three opinions concerning what constitutes a protectable trademark, available...more
How does an important U.S. government agency modernize its operations, especially during a global health crisis? What IT modernization approach can U.S. patent and trademark practitioners expect from the United States Patent...more
A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators in the U.S. Congress recently published a draft Trademark Modernization Act to reform the trademark application process and the remedies for trademark infringement. The draft TM...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced a new prioritized examination program to expedite the examination of applications for marks used to identify qualifying COVID-19 medical products and...more
On May 20th, 2020, in an attempt to improve the timeliness and efficiency of its services, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office formally allowed trademark examiners to enter amendments to trademark applications in...more
Statistics from 2018 reveal that .03% of trademark applications were paper filed. As such, effective February 15, 2020, paper trademark filings are no longer an option. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO")...more
Of particular interest, to receive a filing date after February 15, 2020, all new applications must include an email address for each applicant, even if represented by an attorney. In addition, all applicants, registrants,...more