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Trademark Registration Reversal

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints

Supreme Court Doesn’t Want to Play the Name Game: Prohibition Against Using a Person’s Name in a Registered Mark Without Consent...

On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court held that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registering trademarks utilizing another person's name without consent was constitutional. In Vidal v. Elster 602 U. S. ____ (2024), the Supreme...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Rum Wars: Lanham Act Doesn’t Preclude Judicial Review of PTO Renewal Decisions

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s ruling, holding that the Lanham Act does not foreclose an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) action for judicial review of the US Patent...more

McDermott Will & Emery

And All That Jazz: Trademark Used for One Service Doesn’t Permit Tacking for Others

McDermott Will & Emery on

Reversing the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s decision to dismiss an opposition, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed the requirements for a trademark owner to employ “tacking” based on the use of a mark...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Took a DNA Test, Turns Out “100% THAT BITCH” Is Registrable

McDermott Will & Emery on

Addressing a refusal to register for failure to function as a trademark, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) reversed, finding that the evidence of consumer perception of “100% THAT BITCH” did not demonstrate that the...more

Fenwick & West LLP

When Trademarks Get Messi: Likelihood of Confusion and Leo Messi’s Big European Trademark Win

Fenwick & West LLP on

On September 17, 2020, legendary footballer Leo Messi achieved an elusive goal that he had been pursuing for years. No, he did not finally win a World Cup championship for the Albiceleste. Rather, after a nearly decade-long...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - November 2020: Paradise Found – TTAB Reverses a Failure-to-Function Refusal

Trademark practitioners were pleasantly surprised this month when the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a rare reversal of a “failure-to-function” refusal, which has become an increasingly more common hurdle for...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - November 2020

[co-author: Joseph Diorio, Law Clerk] The November 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a rare failure-to-function refusal reversal at the TTAB, Google's efforts to combat counterfeit goods,...more

Smart & Biggar

The fight over depreciation of goodwill in Canada keeps going and going …

Smart & Biggar on

While comparative advertising can be an effective tool for comparing and contrasting competing brands, there are limits on what claims can lawfully be made. One such limit is provided by Section 22 of the Trademarks Act,...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - April 2020: Color Marks for Product Packaging CAN Be Inherently Distinctive - What This Means for Your Brand...

Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential ruling on the question of whether a color mark for product packaging can ever be inherently distinctive, holding that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)...more

McDermott Will & Emery

In the Pink: Lack of Personal Jurisdiction Results in Dismissal of Non-Infringement Verdict

McDermott Will & Emery on

Addressing personal jurisdiction in a declaratory judgment action, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed the district court’s bench trial verdict, finding that the district court lacked specific personal...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Immoral No More: SCOTUS Strikes Down Ban on Registration of Offensive Trademarks

In a 6–3 opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a 2017 US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision holding the ban on registration of immoral or scandalous trademarks under the Lanham Act to be an...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Supreme Court Ruling Allows Registration of “Scandalous” or “Immoral” Trademarks

Last week, on June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Lanham Act’s “immoral or scandalous” bar to trademark registration constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, and thus...more

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Client Alert: The Trademarks THE SLANTS, REDSKINS and Now FUCT Are Registerable Trademarks Following the Supreme Court’s Iancu v....

In permitting the registration of the “vulgar” term FUCT, the Supreme Court recently extended its 2016 ruling from Matal v. Tam, which allowed the registration of the trademark THE SLANTS for an Asian-American rock band...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

The Supreme Court Says Yes To "Seven Dirty Words"

The road to permitting the registration of George Carlin's "seven dirty words" began in 2017, with the Supreme Court holding unconstitutional the Trademark Act's prohibition against registration of trademarks which are...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Supreme Court Holds Ban on Immoral or Scandalous Trademarks Unconstitutional

On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court, in Iancu v. Brunetti, reviewing the trademark application for “FUCT”, held that the Lanham’s Act’s provision, prohibiting the registration of “immoral[] or scandalous”...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Son of Tam: Supreme Court Strikes Down Lanham Act Section 2(a) For "Immoral" and "Scandalous" Marks

In our prior blog entries... we followed the course of Matal v. Tam, the case involving the mark “THE SLANTS.” In that case, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), on...more

ArentFox Schiff

Supreme Court Rules Ban on ‘Immoral or Scandalous’ Trademarks Unconstitutional

ArentFox Schiff on

On Monday, the Supreme Court held that the ban on “immoral or scandalous” trademarks was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Court found that, as with the recently struck down ban on “disparaging” marks, the ban...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Lanham Act’s Prohibition Of Immoral And Scandalous Marks Is Officially “FUCT”

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The U.S. Supreme Court this week officially pulled the plug on the Lanham Act’s prohibition on the registration of trademarks that comprise “immoral” or “scandalous” matter on First Amendment grounds. The prohibition, found...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Scandalous Marks? Nothing the Proverbial Bar of Soap Can’t Fix

Earlier this week the United States Supreme Court struck down a century-old provision in the Lanham Act that banned the registration of marks deemed “immoral” or “scandalous.” By a 6-3 vote, the Court found in Iancu v....more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on "Immoral and Scandalous" Trademarks

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Iancu v. Brunetti, No. 18-302, finding that the Lanham Act prohibition against registration of scandalous or immoral trademarks violates the First Amendment of the U.S....more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Immoral & Scandalous Marks Survive

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It’s old news by now, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that the immoral and scandalous trademark ban set forth in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it disfavors...more

K&L Gates LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on "Immoral" or "Scandalous"

K&L Gates LLP on

On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Iancu v. Brunetti that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment....more

Alston & Bird

The First Amendment Wins Again: Supreme Court Holds “Immoral” and “Scandalous” Trademarks Are Registrable

Alston & Bird on

Following its decision on The Slants two years ago, the Supreme Court again lands on the side of free speech in Iancu v. Brunetti. Our Intellectual Property – Trademark & Copyright Group discusses the case of the FUCT...more

Dickinson Wright

Why the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision to Allow Federal Registration of FUCT Impacts Everyday Businesses

Dickinson Wright on

On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Iancu v Brunetti that prohibiting federal registration of “immoral or scandalous” marks violates the free speech provisions of the First Amendment. ...more

McCarter & English, LLP

“F” Word Doesn’t Faze Supreme Court – Supreme Court Says USPTO Cannot Refuse To Grant Trademarks Merely Because They Contain...

George Carlin famously observed that there are seven words you can’t say on TV. Erik Brunetti didn’t get the message and thus sought to register a trademark for a line of clothing called “FUCT.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark...more

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