The Briefing: Who Owns WallStreetBets? Trademark Use in Commerce and the Reddit Battle
The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
The Briefing: Everyone Loves the HBO Series 'White Lotus,' Except Duke University
What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 2) — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: The Stanley Cup Clash - A Trademark Battle
Recognizing and Avoiding Trademark Scams and Hoaxes
Why Did the World Wrestling Federation Become WWE? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Turbulence – Oakland vs SFO in Trademark Showdown
The Briefing: Trademark Turbulence – Oakland vs SFO in Trademark Showdown
(Podcast) The Briefing: Bad Spirits – How a Dog Toy Changed TV Title Clearance
The Briefing: Bad Spirits – How a Dog Toy Changed TV Title Clearance
(Podcast) The Briefing: New California Laws for Digital Replicas Both Live and Dead
(Podcast) The Briefing: Punchbowl News’ Trademark Win Despite Rogers Setback
The Briefing: Punchbowl News’ Trademark Win Despite Rogers Setback
The Briefing: How to Avoid Bearing The Risks of A Naked License (Featured Podcast)
The Briefing: How to Avoid Bearing The Risks of A Naked License (Featured)
The Briefing: IOC Goes For Gold In Trademark Suit Over Logan Paul - Kevin Durant Sports Drink
The Briefing: IOC Goes For Gold In Trademark Suit Over Logan Paul - Kevin Durant Sports Drink (Podcast)
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
An application for a US trademark may be rejected if it is likely, when used on or in connection with the goods of the applicant, to cause confusion with another registered mark. On July 23, in Sunkist Growers, Inc. v....more
Many industries rely on design patents to protect the look and feel of their products—especially when aesthetics drive customer interest, brand identity, or market differentiation. In Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company...more
Registering a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides significant legal benefits, including nationwide protection and the presumption of ownership. Federal registration is a smart investment for...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a permanent injunction, concluding that the district court properly determined that a party’s violation of a settlement agreement would lead to irreparable harm. Wudi...more
Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company LLC, Appeal No. 2024-2191 (Fed. Cir. July 17, 2025) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that prosecution history disclaimer applies to...more
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
IN RE THOMAS D. FOSTER, APC, - Before Moore, Prost, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act bars registration of a pending application for a mark that falsely...more
In Adaptive Energy LLC v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) dismissed two oppositions for failure to prosecute. Oppositions Nos. 91275644 and 91280840 (April 11, 2025). The...more
Recent Supreme Court decisions underscore how viewpoint-based refusals of trademark applications are unconstitutional. But can these viewpoint-based refusals survive under the "failure-to-function" doctrine instead?...more
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
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
In a precedential decision issued June 6, 2025, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) confirmed what has long been suggested in its procedural manual: Appellants in ex parte appeals may not incorporate arguments from...more
As noted in the linked article, many iconic brands, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, and JC Penney (yes, he was real), bear the surnames of their founders. These names often lend a sense of authenticity or legacy that...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of a trademark opposition brought by a consumer, holding that mere consumer interest is insufficient to establish...more
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
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s refusal to register a mark on the grounds of false connection, explaining that the false connection inquiry can include evidence...more
In filing to register a trademark on an “intent-to-use” basis, the applicant must verify that it has a good faith “bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.” 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b). Assuming there is nothing on the face...more
In a rare precedential decision involving Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld a denial by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of applications filed for US...more
This year, the INTA Annual Meeting lands in sunny San Diego, California—a city known not only for its breathtaking coastline, laid-back vibe, and rich cultural diversity, but also for its dynamic landscape of iconic brands...more
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
A well-orchestrated intellectual property strategy requires carefully and thoughtfully leveraging copyright, trademark, and patent laws, as highlighted by a recent decision handed down by the United Sates Court of Appeals for...more
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
Trademark registrations are a great tool for business owners to protect their brand identity. Unlike some other forms of intellectual property protection, trademarks can last forever provided that they are actively used and...more
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