News & Analysis as of

Trademark Registration Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP)

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Ninth Circuit Addresses Judicial Power over Trademark Applications and the Lawful Use of Trademarks on Cannabis (I Mean,...

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The Ninth Circuit issued two opinions in BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc. finding judicial power over pending trademark applications and an exception shielding trademark registrations for marks used...more

International Lawyers Network

Make Your Mark On History: Connecting Tradenames To Landmark Events, People & Places

The phrase “make your mark on history” is a commonplace one with several meanings and connotations. It is one offered at many high school and college commencement speeches as an exhortation to graduates to have an impact...more

International Lawyers Network

Trademarking a Name and the Right of Publicity

Suppose that you want to register a trademark that incorporates a name of a person to identify the source of goods or services for your business. Should you register your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

USPTO Updates Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure

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As those involved in the world of trademark law likely know, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) publishes an immensely helpful Manual covering the practices and procedures of prosecuting or registering...more

McDermott Will & Emery

PTO Lowers the Bar for Genericness Refusals

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) recently issued Examination Guide 1-22, Clarification of Examination Evidentiary Standard for Marks Refused as Generic (Guide 1-22), which amends the PTO’s stance on the appropriate...more

Fish & Richardson

The Basics of TTAB Oppositions

Fish & Richardson on

Another person or entity has applied for a trademark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) that is similar to your trademark. What can you do? One option is to institute an opposition with the...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

New USPTO Trademark Manual

Fox Rothschild LLP on

ICYMI, a new Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) was released by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last month. The July 2021 revision replaces and supersedes the October 2018 version, and it...more

Weintraub Tobin

The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Navigating the Hazy Intersection of Cannabis Law & Trademarks

Weintraub Tobin on

Weintraub Tobin IP attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss Josh's post on the IP Law Blog "Navigating the Hazy Intersection of Federal and State Law on Cannabis and Advising Clients on Protecting Their Trademarks." ...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

How to Maintain Trademark Registrations in a Pandemic

Husch Blackwell LLP on

U.S. trademark owners must file regular maintenance documentation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to show that the owner is still using its trademark “in commerce” during the period leading up to the...more

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

MarkIt to Market® - May 2020

The May 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses two recent precedential TTAB decisions – one regarding disclaimer scope and the other exploring how to successfully claim trademark rights in the...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

2(b) Prohibition On “Flag Marks” Bars Use of Flag as Part of a Mark

In a recent precedential decision concerning the rarely litigated or cited Section 2(b) of the Lanham Act, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed a refusal to register the service mark...more

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

MarkIt to Market® - February 2020: Sussexit: Petty Queens and Trademark Takeaways

Trademark lawyers get excited when trademark protection maneuvers make international headlines; add glamorous royals Harry and Meghan to the mix, and everyone has an opinion on the ramifications of Sussexit and the SUSSEX...more

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

MarkIt to Market® - September 2019: King James and TACO TUESDAY

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

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Series 89: A Secret Menu of Protected Non-Registered Marks

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Who doesn’t love a secret menu, where one discovers delicious off-menu favorites and savors them along with the pleasure of feeling in the know? We’ll let you in on a “secret menu” of sorts for trademarks. A little known area...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Give Me Aphukenbrake* – USPTO Issues Examination Guide on Treatment of Scandalous Marks Following Supreme Court Case

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We recently posted about the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24th holding in Iancu v. Brunetti, which upheld a ruling that the Lanham Act’s bar on the registration of scandalous or immoral marks is unconstitutional because it...more

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

MarkIt® to Market - April 2019: What’s The Point (Of Sale Display)?

On April 10, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit redesignated as precedential its January 14, 2019 decision upholding the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) decision affirming refusal of...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Proper Use of Trademarks and Trademark Symbols

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, color, sound, or a combination thereof, that serves to identify the source of goods or services from those of another. Questions frequently arise about how trademarks should be...more

International Lawyers Network

Can Trademarks Be Primarily Geographically Descriptive?

Suppose that you want to register a trademark that identifies a source of goods or services for your business. What if the trademark describes a geographical area such as eastern? Should you register your trademark with the...more

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

MarkIt to Market - October 2018: 13 Can Prove Lucky for Applicants

When examining trademark applications, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) considers whether the applied-for mark is confusingly similar to any registered or prior-filed marks by applying the following...more

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

MarkIt to Market® - August 2018: #NOPOWER? will.i.am's Hashtag Problems

In a recent precedential decision, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) confirmed that a hashtag symbol (#) generally adds little or no source-indicating distinctiveness to a trademark. In this case, rapper...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

For adults only: A peep at immoral and scandalous marks in the US

The landmark case, Matal v. Tam, forever altered the innocence of the trademark landscape. The case, interestingly enough, involved a musical group wanting to trademark a seemingly disparaging mark. ...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Laudatory Terms – Super Trademarks or Not Worth the Trouble?

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Hello loyal TMCA readers – This is the first installment of what we hope to be an informative series of posts called Quirky Questions: TMCA Edition. Our labor and employment colleagues have a great blog, Quirky Questions,...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Federal v. State Trademark Registration for Marijuana-Related Goods and Services

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Despite numerous states having legalized medical marijuana, and a handful of others having legalized marijuana for recreational use, it still remains impossible to obtain a U.S. federal trademark registration for marijuana...more

Perkins Coie

Supreme Court Holds Disparagement Clause Unconstitutional

Perkins Coie on

In a much anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. ___ (June 19, 2017) that a provision of the Lanham Act banning the registration of marks considered disparaging to “persons, institutions,...more

BakerHostetler

Registration of “Phantom Marks” Denied

BakerHostetler on

“Phantom marks” are trademarks that contain a variable element, such as the mark T.MARKEY TRADEMARK EXHIBITION 2***, in which the asterisks represent elements that change to indicate different years. Trademark Manual of...more

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