trademark
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The TTAB Comes to Boston
John Welch has done his usual stellar job of convincing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to come to Boston to conduct a hearing. Sponsored by the Trademark Committee of the Boston Patent Law Association, the Board will sit at the Northeastern University School of Law on April 29th in the afternoon. The case is… Continue reading
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Why the Paperwork is Important
Defendant River West Brands LLC is a company that, in its own words, “identifies, acquires, redevelops, and monetizes iconic brand intellectual property that is significantly distressed.” In other words, its business is in zombie brands. I previously blogged on some of the methods the company uses here. It’s a business model with fairly significant challenges,… Continue reading
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When You Should Hire an Investigator
This case just stinks. I can’t say it’s wrongly decided, it just seems so unfair. The dispute is over ownership of the trademark ZORLAC for skateboards and apparel. Opposer Jeff Newton started a skateboard business in 1976 under the ZORLAC mark, incorporating in 1986. 1984 ad But shortly thereafter he was in financial trouble. He… Continue reading
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Bar Napkins Aren’t the Best Kind of Contract
You be the judge, and it’s not hard on this one. Dean Bach owned and operated “Dino’s Lounge” in Ferndale, Michigan. A bar in Northville, Michigan was on the blocks and Bach and a guy named Martinez bid against each other for it. Martinez’s bid was accepted, but he didn’t have experience running a bar.… Continue reading
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Who Knows Who Owns Betty Boop
You’d think the recent 9th Circuit decision about Betty Boop would be right up my alley. But really, I’m mostly just mystified by it. It doesn’t add anything to current copyright jurisprudence and takes a decidedly orthogonal direction on current trademark law. The facts that the Court of Appeals cares to discuss are fairly simple.… Continue reading
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Urban Homesteading
URBAN HOMESTEADINGURBAN HOMESTEADINGURBAN HOMESTEADING Check out EFF to see what it’s about. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
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Beware the “Own Name” Defense
Lawsuits in the United States over use of personal names come up occasionally. They happen when someone doing business under his or her own name sells off the rights, then try to compete in the original field using some form of the name (I think this is called “having one’s cake and eating it too”).… Continue reading
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Don’t Forget Trade Dress In Your Manufacturing Agreements
Tecnimed SRL v Kidz-Med, Inc. is a manufacturer-distributor dispute with a bit of a twist – the agreement was clear about who owned the trademark (the manufacturer), but it didn’t address who owned the trade dress for the product. Tecnimed is an Italian company that makes a non-contact thermometer for taking a child’s temperature. Kidz-Med was… Continue reading
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Confirmed – X/Open Owns the UNIX Trademark
I previously blogged about a case where there was a challenge to the ownership of the UNIX trademark. The decision has now been affirmed in an unpublished decision by the 11th Circuit. The UNIX mark was owned by Novell, but Novell decided to first license, then assign the mark to X/Open, a technology consortium. Novell had used… Continue reading
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Who’s the Baddest Chicks?
(click to enlarge) You’re an administrative judge with the TTAB. The entity with the logo second from the left on the bottom of the poster owns a registration for “ATL’s Baddest Chicks.” The entity with the logo on the left, the domain name “www.littelconcepts.net” and the phone number 404-607-8772 claims to be the owner of… Continue reading
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