trademark
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The Wrist-Rocket Factors
Small businesses or community organizations, like restaurants or well-meaning citizens running a charitable fund-raising event, often don’t have many formalities around their operation, so when there is a dispute over the ownership of the name it’s bound to be very messy. But I don’t think there is any more vexing trademark ownership situation than that… Continue reading
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Use Inuring to the Licensor
While I write about all the intellectual property disciplines, I have a soft spot for trademark ownership disputes. And I was, frankly, surprised by today’s case—it was not the outcome I expected when I first started reading. Tammy Goldthorpe filed an application for the mark SLIPPERY WIZARD for asphalt release agent. The application was opposed… Continue reading
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Zombie Brand Rising From the Dead?
I just watched the most recent episode of Mad Men, “The Strategy.” The “strategy” is for an advertising campaign for the Burger Chef chain of fast food restaurants. Here’s the closing shot of the episode, with Pete, Peggy and Don sitting in a Burger Chef: Anyone eaten at a Burger Chef lately—anyone? According to Wikipedia, there aren’t… Continue reading
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You Don’t Have to Parody the Owner of the Mark
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor for Louisiana owns a state trademark registration for LOUISIANA PICK YOUR PASSION: The Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which is under the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, also registered the word mark PICK YOUR PASSION with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. MoveOn.org used the trademark*… Continue reading
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Google is, Irrelevantly, Confirmed as the Senior User of the ANDROID Mark
Before Google acquired Android, Inc., and later released the Android operating system, Erich Specht had registered the mark ANDROID DATA. Specht claimed Google infringed his trademark; Google was successful in the trial court with a claim that Specht had abandoned the trademark, as I previously blogged. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit now… Continue reading
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How Not to Manage a Brand
I’m very interested in C.F.M. Distributing Co. v. Costantine, a case about a failed franchise and a son’s effort to revive it. The effort failed because there were so many former uncontrolled licensees that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board held (as affirmed by the Federal Circuit) that the applicant was not the owner of… Continue reading
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That’s How You Write It
It’s always tricky to sell a business that uses your personal name. Probably a lot of the value of the acquisition is tied to the name — imagine selling Martha Stewart Living Omnipedia without getting full rights to the name “Martha Stewart.” But the person selling the name has made his or her living in… Continue reading
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One Cannot Put a Would-Be Franchise Back Together
I was all stoked because one of the most complicated trademark ownership cases I’ve ever seen, C.F.M. Distributing Co. v. Costantine, was appealed to the Federal Circuit. Super! Clarification from a Court of Appeals on trademark ownership! Sigh. Affirmed under Rule 36 without an opinion. Oral argument here. The text of this work is licensed… Continue reading
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Winning With No Trademark at All
In the United States we often think of “unfair competition” as a claim that is for infringement of an unregistered trademark, but the theory is broader than that. Los Defensores v. Gomez is the rare case where there was an unfair competition claim not involving a trademark, and it was successful. Plaintiff-respondent Los Defensores is… Continue reading
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