We do a significant amount of Trademark work at the Firm. And over the years, one thing we have noticed is that a significant percentage of clients want to name their businesses and products with names that are either (i) very descriptive of what they do or (ii) comprised wholly of common words or phrases.
As […]
Originally Posted 11/7/07
In the past, we have seen owners of federally registered trademarks receiving notices purporting to be from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or another entity with an officially sounding name. These notices typically offer a service which the notice states is urgent and/or required for the mark to continue to […]
Originally Posted 9/18/07
As recently stated in the online blog Lexology, American Airlines recently sued Google for trademark misappropriation. See American Airlines, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 4-070V-487-A (N.D. Texas, Aug. 16, 2007). In its complaint, Amercian alleges that Google’s policy of allowing other companies to display paid links to their sites when Google users enter […]
Originally Posted 8/9/07
Another day, another post. I’m obvously trying to quickly break us out of the blogging slump we were in…
So, in today’s Wall Street Journal, an article states that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is suing the Red Cross for trademark infringement (WSJ Article Link). Apparently, J&J owns the trademark of a greek red cross […]
Originally Posted 5/9/07
For Answers to More Questions Click Here
Ok, I have been so consumed with writing content to expand the useful content displayed on our main Website , that I have kind of neglected the blog. Never fear, we are back with the next installment of answering your frequently asked questions. This next one was […]
Originally Posted 3/27/07
So last time we discussed common law trademarks so now its time to turn our attention to registered trademarks.
Q: if trademark rights aren’t created by registration, what does it mean to have a federally registered trademark?
A: The second broad class of trademarks is known as “registered trademarks.” Trademarks can be registered at the […]
Originally Posted 3/22/07
As stated in the Patently-O blog, a couple days ago, the 7th Circuit in JCW Investments v. Novelty, Inc., held that the copyright on the novelty item “Pull My Finger Fred” was infringed by the novelty item “Fartman”. The two items are similar dolls of balding middle-aged men sitting in a recliner while […]
Originally Posted 3/16/07
Q: Do I have to have a federal trademark registration to have rights in a trademark?
A: This one we get asked a bunch. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question . . . well needless to say I probably wouldn’t be sitting here doing this […]
Originalyy Posted 3/11/07
I was driving home the other day when who do you think I heard shilling for LegalZoom: no other than Bill O’Reilly. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. LegalZoom does have a HUGE advertising budget and they use radio as one of their primary advertising mediums. I believe I have heard Denver’s own […]
Originally Posted 2/6/07
Apple computers and Apple records came to a new licensing arrangement after much controversy concerning Apple Computer’s I-tunes service. In the new deal all “Apple” trademarks will be owned by Apple Computers and the mark will be licensed back to apple records for a limited scope of use.
Truthfully, this approach makes the most […]