by Stephen Kennedy | Jan 13, 2016 | Blog
An arbitrary trademark generally consists of a word that has nothing to do with the services or goods with which it is associated. For example, the trademark “Apple” is a well-known arbitrary mark that will be familiar to most readers. Under the common understanding...
by Stephen Kennedy | Dec 23, 2015 | Blog
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued its ruling in In re Tam. In a surprising move and with a 9-3 vote, the panel ruled that the Lanham Act’s disparagement provisions are unconstitutional because they constitute an impermissible restriction on...
by Stephen Kennedy | Dec 23, 2015 | Blog
A. Basic Overtime Rate: The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) mandates that all employees not “exempt” from overtime pay be paid overtime for all hours “actually worked” in excess of 40 in any single workweek at a rate of 1 ½ times the “regular rate” of pay. This...
by Stephen Kennedy | Dec 2, 2015 | Blog
Up next in our discussion on the strength of your trademark are marks that fall under the “Suggestive” category of the spectrum. Suggestive marks differ from merely descriptive marks because they do more than just describe a characteristic or quality of the...
by Stephen Kennedy | Nov 23, 2015 | Blog
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...
by Stephen Kennedy | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog
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...
