Trademark Infringement, USPTO, Corporate Counsel

Fourth Circuit Confirms: Physical Distance Does Not Avoid Trademark Confusion

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC on 5/5/2025

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision confirming that using similar names for businesses in the same industry can result in a likelihood of confusion despite the physical distance of the entities. In...more

Federal Circuit Overturns Fifty Years of TTAB Precedent

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 11/9/2023

The Federal Circuit recently released an eye-catching opinion in Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., — F. 4th –, Case No. 2022-1212, 2023 WL 6854647 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 18, 2023). The panel of three judges held, in a...more

Design Patents are Heating Up at the Federal Circuit, Again

Quarles & Brady LLP on 9/26/2023

Last week, in a precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) clarified the law on comparison prior art in design patent cases. In the decision, captioned Columbia Sportswear...more

Intellectual Property Top five tips for brand protection

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 11/19/2020

Protecting your brand can be of more value than you may realise. A brand with a strong reputation usually has a loyal returning client base. Whether you are selling luxury goods, offering online content sharing services or...more

Walmart Burned by the Jury in Trademark Infringement Suit

UB Greensfelder LLP on 2/22/2019

Earlier this month, a federal jury in North Carolina hit Walmart with a $95.5 million verdict for its willful infringement of Variety Stores, Inc.’s “BACKYARD” trademarks. The jury awarded $45.5 million as a reasonable...more

Second Circuit Goes Rogue – Reverses District Court on Priority of Common Law Rights in ROGUE Brand Apparel

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 9/4/2018

A recent Second Circuit decision in a case involving two companies using the ROGUE mark for apparel sets the record straight on what it means to have common law priority of rights in a mark for a category of goods in...more

#Trademarks?: Hashtags as Trademarks Revisited

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media on 7/18/2016

Since our previous article on the emerging issue of trademark rights in hashtags, the use of hashtags in social media marketing has continued to grow. Described as the “ignition keys to a social media keyword search,”...more

TTAB Makes Double Brown Ale Open to Nut Sack Mark

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets on 11/5/2015

In a ruling bound to please 15 year-old boys everywhere, the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) reversed the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the trademark NUT SACK DOUBLE BROWN ALE (in standard character...more

Trademark Infringement › United States Patent and Trademark Office › Corporate Counsel

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