Sharpen Your Sword: Adduce Proof When Claiming Prior Copyright to Challenge a Trademark in China
Two of the busiest airports in the United States are battling with their smaller counterparts to retain trademark rights in the name of the major cities the airports serve. While the smaller airports want to capitalize on...more
In BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP v. Cent. Coast Agric., Inc., 97 F.4th 668 (9th Cir. 2024), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal district courts have power to adjudicate trademark applications pursuant to the Lanham...more
Joining a series of precedential decisions about descriptiveness, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently affirmed a refusal to register Sheet Pile, LLC’s (“Applicant”) mark ZPILE on the Principal Register, on the...more
Suppose that you have obtained a U.S. trademark registration for your trademark on goods or services for your business. Can your trademark registration be cancelled with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on it being...more
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) circulated a draft amendment to the PRC Trademark Law (TML Draft Amendment) for public comment on January 13, 2023. The TML Draft Amendment is the product of...more
Join Sterne Kessler attorneys for our inaugural Trademark Year in Review webinar, where speakers will offer summaries and analysis of particularly noteworthy cases from 2022, along with updates on the latest in U.S. trademark...more
With the increasing protection of IP rights on e-commerce platforms, trademark registrants’ rights are respected and protected. It is difficult to sell counterfeit products on e-commerce platforms. For example, according to...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, “quarantine” has become a term that is used very frequently in everyday life. In fact, there is also “quarantine” in the field of trademarks. Article 50 of the Trademark Law of...more
The Cancellation Division of EUIPO has recently issued a resounding decision declaring the invalidity of the figurative trademark representing the “Flower thrower”, one of the most iconic Banksy’s mural paintings. The...more
Section 15 of the Lanham Act, subject to certain specified exceptions, provides that the right of an owner “to use [a] registered mark in commerce for the goods or services on or in connection with which such registered mark...more
The eagerly anticipated decision of the European Court of Justice in the case of Sky v. SkyKick [Case C 371/18] was delivered on January 29, 2020. ...more
By judgment of 24 September 2019 (T-219/18), the General Court ruled that the Community design of a scooter registered for a Chinese company does not infringe the rights of a traditional Italian company to its famous scooter....more
Every Tuesday, family, friends, and coworkers gather at restaurants across the globe for the now-beloved “Taco Tuesday”; nothing says a good time like discount tacos and margarita specials! It turns out that one of...more
When it comes to proving use of marks in commerce, perception by consumers is everything. If consumers perceive a mark as identifying only a particular component or feature of the goods in a specimen, the PTO will likely...more
One of the biggest trademark cases in 2018 addressed the issue of secondary meaning in product design—specifically, Converse’s rights in its signature Chuck Taylor® All Star® shoe. In Converse v. ITC, the Federal Circuit...more
U.S. trademark attorneys received a New Year’s surprise last month when the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Iancu v. Brunetti, the case that should determine the availability of federal trademark...more