Pamela Chestek
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How to Steal a Trademark
Progressive Emu, Inc. v. Nutrition & Fitness, Inc. is mostly a dispute about paying for emu oil, but there’s also a trademark claim involved. In 2000 Progressive Emu began developing an emu oil pain cream and added blue coloring to it, “thus birthed ‘Blue Emu.’” Nutrition & Fitness (NFI) was then “brought on board to… Continue reading
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All the Wrong Reasons
In a recent Trademark Reporter Commentary, I went on a tirade about a two district court cases that, in my view, misinterpreted Section 10 of the Lanham Act. Section 10 generally prohibits assignment of intent-to-use applications “except for an assignment to a successor to the business of the applicant, or portion thereof, to which the… Continue reading
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Dodged a Bullet
Awhile back I titled a blog “Pay Attention to This One.” People did. You can read in more detail about the facts in the appeals court opinion blogged here, but the crux is that an inventor had an oral agreement with his employer that he would be paid a bonus for his inventions in exchange… Continue reading
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Why You Have That Employment Agreement Gobbledygook
Plaintiff Advanced Video Technologies has been around the block a few times already. AVT claimed to be the successor to a patent for a video codec. It had successfully asserted the patent against other defendants but ran into some problems when trying to sue HTC Corp., Blackberry and Motorola Mobility. Its first attempt failed because… Continue reading
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More INTA fun!
And don’t forget also the e-Trademarks Listserv reception, another popular event where those of us who ordinarily commune via email can actually meet in person! See you at B.B. King’s Blues Club, (9101 International Dr. Suite 2230), Tuesday, May 24 from 5-8 pm. You can sign up here or through the QR code on the… Continue reading
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Pick Your Story
When you have one theory for one court, and a different theory for a later one, it probably isn’t going to turn out too well. In the latter suit before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Weber-Stephen Products, LLC, famous maker of grills, petitioned to cancel the registration for a stylized “Q” trademark owned by… Continue reading
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Must-Do INTA Event
INTA is fast upon us – appointments made, packing list written, comfortable shoes worn in. And I know that you have a spot reserved on your calendar for the never-to-be-missed Meet the Bloggers! Except this year it is fabulously BEAT the Bloggers because There’s bowling! Yes, you too can see whether you still got it,… Continue reading
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That’s Not How It Works
There is a common misperception that one can somehow grab rights by filing a trademark application. It just doesn’t work that way in the United States. Today’s schooling is from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Entertainingly, one party, Alvin Reed, Sr., is both petitioner and respondent (for a registered trademark) and opposer and applicant… Continue reading
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So Many Ways to Lose
The Trademark Blog tweeted CRYE v. DURO Would’ve liked to see discussion whether there can be protectable trade dress in a camoflage patternhttps://t.co/kF0jDU0gL8 — TrademarkBlog (@TrademarkBlog) April 30, 2016 Oh, but there are so many ways that the plaintiff was going to lose this lawsuit, and whether camouflage can have secondary meaning is so ordinary.… Continue reading
About Me
Learn more about me at my website, Chestek Legal
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Categories
- copyright
- domain name
- moral rights
- patent
- right of publicity
- social media
- trade dress
- trade libel
- trade secret
- trademark
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