In the context of professional wrestling, the names and ring names of professional wrestlers who are affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) have been the subject of trademark applications and registrations with the USPTO. Common products and services associated with wrestlers’ Continue Reading
Bright Ideas | Puff Puff Passing Off: Chronic Trademark Issues in the Growing Industry of Legal Cannabis
As James Franco’s dealer character in stoner classic Pineapple Express eruditely demonstrates in the foregoing quote, branding has always been integral to the cannabis market. Until very recently, the cannabis consumer base had to rely solely on the goodwill attached to names of (often proprietary) Continue Reading
Black Lives Matter Movement Sparks Branding Changes
7th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law The tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery this year, among others, have reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement, resulting in powerful nationwide conversations about racial injustice in the United States, with Continue Reading
Supreme Court Unanimously Rules That Willfulness Is Not Required to Recover Profits
The Bottom Line The U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on April 23, 2020, by unanimously holding in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., et al. that a brand owner is not required to prove that a trademark infringer acted willfully in order for the owner to be awarded Continue Reading
Brexit’s Impact on European Union Trademarks
The Bottom Line The United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU) on January 31, 2020 after mutual ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, thus making “Brexit” official. The UK is now in a transition period until December 31, 2020, during which EU laws, including those that pertain to the Continue Reading
Thomson Reuters Practical Law | Trademark Laws: New York
A Q&A guide to New York laws protecting trademarks. This Q&A addresses state laws governing trademark registration, infringement, dilution, counterfeiting, unfair competition, and deceptive trade practices. Answers to questions can be compared across a number of jurisdictions (see Trademark Continue Reading
No Longer “FUCT” — Scandalous Mark Provision Struck Down by Supreme Court
6th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law What constitutes a “scandalous” trademark? The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been grappling with this question since the enactment of the 1905 Trademark Act, later codified in the 1946 Lanham Act, which forbids Continue Reading
Patent and Trademark Office Clarifies Rules for Cannabis Trademarks
The Bottom Line Now that the USPTO has issued this guidance, its examiners can be expected to issue decisions on pending cannabis-related trademark applications. Companies with applications pre-dating December 20, 2018, or considering filing new applications, should keep the essential elements of Continue Reading
Trademark License Rights Survive Rejection in Bankruptcy
The Bottom Line The Mission Product decision should resolve uncertainty created by the circuit split between the First Circuit and Seventh Circuit decisions. The Supreme Court’s ruling should also reassure trademark licensees that should their licensor end up in bankruptcy, absent contract terms Continue Reading
1-800 Contacts Unlawfully Restricted Competitors’ Trademark Use In Search Engine Marketing
The Bottom Line The FTC has made clear that some common online advertising methods, such as bidding on a competitor’s trademark in search engine marketing, may not always be contracted away, especially when they result in restricting consumers’ access to competitive pricing information. Parties Continue Reading