Earlier this summer the Board relied on the “Something More” standard in reversing a refusal to register a trademark for beer. See In re Iron Hill Brewery, LLC, Serial No. 86682532 (July 28, 2017). The Applicant was seeking to register the mark CANNIBAL in standard characters for beer. There was…
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) issued a decision two days ago that reaffirmed to trademark practitioners that the doctrine of foreign equivalents must be seriously considered when conducting trademark clearances and rendering trademark clearance opinions to clients. See In re S Squared Ventures, LLC, Serial No. 86813357…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the Board’s findings in Teresa H. Earnhardt v. Kerry Earnhardt, Inc., Opposition Nos. 91205331 and 91205338 (February 26, 2016). The Applicant sought to register the mark EARNHARDT COLLECTION for furniture in class 20 and custom construction of…
It appears that more often than not the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board” or the “TTAB”) issues favorable decisions for the big corporations. However, this one came down against Williams-Sonoma Inc. (the “Applicant”) last month. See In re Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Serial No. 86092589 (June 28, 2017), where the…
Two recent decisions, one before the U.S. Supreme Court and one pending before the Federal Circuit have kept the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) busy writing Examination Guidance for Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act’s Disparagement Provision and Scandalous Provision. See Examination Guide 1-17. See also our webpage…
Applicant sought to register the mark BUNGEE BLAST for a foam flying toy and hand-powered non-mechanical toy in class 28. The applicant applied for a standard character mark and disclaimed the term “BUNGEE”. The Examining Attorney refused the application citing a registration, BUNGEE GLIDERZ for toy airplanes, toy gliders, and…
David Elliot (“Plaintiff” or “Elliot”) filed an action in the Arizona District Court (later joined by Chris Gillespie), petitioning for cancellation of the GOOGLE trademark, claiming that it evolved into a generic term. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. In Elliot’s motion for summary judgment, he alleged that…
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) decided this appeal a few days ago. The Board determined that the trademark PA’DENTRO when used in connection with liquor and liqueurs namely tequila, resembles the registrant’s mark ADENTRO for wines and causes confusion and/or deceives consumers under the Trademark Act. See…
This week I addressed one issue repeatedly with prospective clients and the dialogue prompted me to write this blog. Generally, trademark attorneys counsel clients to avoid descriptive marks that will register on the Supplemental Register. For the basic facts regarding the Principal and Supplemental Registers, see our webpage entitled, Filing…
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog on a Sixth Circuit trademark case that addressed whether an entire application should be voided if a bona fide intent to use the mark in commerce was lacking. See our blog post entitled, Should An Entire Application Be Voided If A Bona…