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United States Patent and Trademark Office › Lanham Act › Trademark Registration

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.... more +
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.    less -
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...

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints on

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

Haug Partners LLP

Supreme Court Upholds Validity of Names Clause in Trump Too Small Decision

Haug Partners LLP on

Referred to as the “names clause”, the Lanham Act prohibits registration of a mark that consists of or comprises a name that identifies a particular living individual without written consent.1 This includes full names,...more

McDermott Will & Emery

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

McDermott Will & Emery on

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

Holland & Knight LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of Federal Trademark Statute's "Names Clause"

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a First Amendment challenge to the "names clause" of the Lanham Act on June 13, 2024. See Vidal v. Elster, No. 22-704. The names clause prohibits federally registering a trademark...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Trademarking History: Justices Uphold Names Clause, Clash Over Reasoning

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Vidal v. Elster, a case that pitted trademark law against the First Amendment’s free speech protections. While the Court unanimously upheld the Patent and...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Lanham Act’s Personal Names Restriction Does Not Violate First Amendment

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As expected, based on the tenor of the Justices’ questions during oral argument, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a trademark applicant seeking to register a mark commenting on former President Donald Trump. The...more

Genova Burns LLC

Unanimous But Fractured: Supreme Court Upholds Rejection of “Trump Too Small” Trademark, With Little Guidance for the Future

Genova Burns LLC on

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Vidal v. Ester, 602 U.S. ___ (2024) that the federal prohibition on registering trademarks that identify a living individual without their consent does not violate the First...more

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

SCOTUS Rules on "Trump Too Small"—Third Recent Ruling on First Amendment Implications for Lanham Act 

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

The June 13, 2024, U.S. Supreme Court decision in Vidal v. Elster made waves in the trademark community. All of the Court’s decisions are significant, and this matter was of particular interest because the decision marked the...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

From Rubio's Joke to the Supreme Court: The Journey of 'Trump Too Small' in Vidal v. Elster

Morrison & Foerster LLP on

Does the Lanham Act’s restriction on registration of trademarks that include an individual’s name without the consent of such individual violate the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, even when the mark expresses...more

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

Whiteford

Understanding the Basics: What are Trademarks and Service Marks?

Whiteford on

In the realm of professional associations, establishing a strong and recognizable brand is crucial. Trademarks and service marks are essential tools that not only protect your association's brand but also enhance its...more

Erise IP

What’s Trending in Trademarks, May 2024: Taylor Swift Fans Analyze Latest Trademark Filing; San Francisco Sues Over San Francisco...

Erise IP on

Every month, Erise’s trademark attorneys review the latest developments at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in the courts, and across the corporate world to bring you the stories that you should know about: Taylor...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Hot Mess? Second Circuit Douses Injunction Based on Weak Mark

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion based on an erroneous evaluation of the strength of the “inherently descriptive” marks at...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Divided 9th Circuit Says District Court Has Power to Adjudicate TM Applications

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on

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

McDermott Will & Emery

ITU Applicants Beware: Federal Courts Have Jurisdiction Over Pending Trademark Applications

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part a district court’s ruling in a trademark dispute, upholding its decision to invalidate trademark applications. The Ninth Circuit held that district courts have...more

Miller Nash LLP

Ninth Circuit Decision Quietly Blesses Cannabusiness Practice of Federal Trademark Registrations for Branded “Tobacco Products”

Miller Nash LLP on

In a published decision issued April 1, 2024 (no fooling), the Ninth Circuit in BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc. weighed in on somewhat esoteric topics concerning whether federal courts have...more

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

Federal Circuit IP Appeals: Summaries of Key 2023 Decisions (8th Edition): Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., 84 F.4th 1014...

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

In Great Concepts, the court addressed whether Section 14 of the Lanham Act, which permits cancellation of a mark’s registration if “its registration was obtained fraudulently,” permits cancellation due to the owner’s filing...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

False Declaration of Incontestability Not Enough to Cancel US Trademark Registration

Ladas & Parry LLP on

Great Concepts has owned Registration No. 2929764 for DANTANNA’S, in association with “steak and seafood restaurant[s]”, since March 2005. In 2006 Chutter Inc’s predecessor-in-interest, Dan Tana, petitioned to cancel the mark...more

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog

Supreme Court Weighs Whether Refusing to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL Trademark Violates First Amendment

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog on

On November 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court engaged in a thought-provoking deliberation concerning the intersection of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and U.S. trademark law, Vidal v. Elster, Supr. Ct. Case No....more

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

MarkIt to Market® - October 2023: A Limit to Cancel Culture? Federal Circuit Finds Fraud in Connection with Section 15 Declaration...

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

In 2021, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled Great Concepts, LLC’s trademark registration for the mark DANTANNA’S for restaurant services under Section 14, after finding that counsel for the Registrant committed...more

Kilpatrick

Trademark Incontestability and Fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: The Federal Circuit Clarifies One Issue but Leaves...

Kilpatrick on

In Great Concepts Management Group v. Chutter, Inc., the Federal Circuit entertained an appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancellation of a federal registration based on the registrant’s filing of an...more

BakerHostetler

Great Concepts LLC v. Chutter, Inc.: The Federal Circuit Weighs In on TTAB’s Authority When a Registrant Commits Fraud on the...

BakerHostetler on

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (Board) precedential decision in Chutter, Inc. v. Great Management Group L.L.C. (TTAB 2021) opened the door for cancellation actions and defenses based on a lowered intent requirement....more

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig PLLC

Could Trump Too Small Shrink Free Speech Rights In The Trademark Application Process?

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig PLLC on

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on November 1, 2023 for Vidal v. Elster, a case that questions whether an application to register “TRUMP TOO SMALL” as a mark can be refused registration, or whether such a refusal...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

When is Rebranding a $4 Billion Mistake? Time Will Tell With Twitter’s Decline

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The small blue bird adorning nearly every company’s social media section. The verbiage “tweet” and “retweet” working their way into the fabric of modern language. The creation of character-limited, short-form posts as a new...more

McDermott Will & Emery

What’s Kühler Than Kühl? No Likelihood of Confusion

McDermott Will & Emery on

Addressing unfair competition claims under the Lanham Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit concluded that no reasonable juror would confuse an alcohol distributer’s use of the word “kühl” with use of a similar...more

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