As the holiday season is now upon us, one may wonder: Are general sayings about Christmas, Hanukkah, and other holidays protectible as trademarks? Or are these sayings free for anyone to use on things like sweatshirts and...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently issued an Examination Guide clarifying the standard for refusing trademark applications on genericness grounds. Like other substantive refusals, to establish a prima...more
Earlier this month, certain regulations implementing the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) went into effect. Per the final rule, the new tools are primarily to clear the “deadwood” – that is, unused registered trademarks –...more
Trademark examiners in the U.S. often will reach out to applicants to handle certain amendments to their applications, avoiding the issuance of formal office actions. There are many benefits to working with the examiners,...more
Earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rule-making to implement provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA), which Congress passed in December 2020. The...more
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in the trademark registration case United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V., holding “A term styled ‘generic.com’ is a generic name for a class of goods or services...more
7/2/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On Monday, we listened in real time to the livestreamed Supreme Court oral arguments in the trademark registration case United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V. Because of COVID-19, the arguments were...more
5/6/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
Oral Argument ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
We have been alerted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) of unauthorized attempts by unknown parties to amend our clients’ trademark registration records. ...more