The Washington “REDSKINS” trademarks have been in litigation for over twenty years. In 1992, the dispute began when a group of Native Americans filed a petition to cancel the registration on the grounds that it disparaged Native Americans. Currently, the Lanham Act does not permit registration of mark that “may disparage” a group or individuals. …
If you knew the answer was “yes, if it’s still available,” then pat yourself on the back because technically, that is right. If you answered “yes, but it’s a bad idea” you get a gold star. Let’s talk more about that. It all started with the U.S. military…. Prior to 1998, regulating Internet names had …
In continuing our discussion of the trademark spectrum, we will be reviewing “Descriptive” marks on the blog today. Descriptive marks describe an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the specified goods or services. An example of a descriptive mark would be the mark AFTERTAN for lotion intended for use after tanning. AFTERTAN …
When clients come to me for trademark registration, they usually want to know how strong their proposed mark is. There is no formulaic approach for providing that evaluation, but practitioners may rely on the trademark sliding scale of distinctiveness, also known as the trademark spectrum. I use the model below to help illustrate this spectrum …
Patent litigation could be forever changed when the United States Supreme Court decides two related cases concerning the test for enhancing damages. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases, Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer, U.S., No. 14-1520, and Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., U.S., No. 14-1513, on the sole issue of whether the …