trademark
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Too Many Cupcakeries
Ryan Gile at the Las Vegas Trademark Attorney does a fabulous job summarizing a new suit over ownership of THE CUPCAKERY trademark – it’s my favorite kind, a family feud. Is the REAL Cupcakery here – or here?? The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States… Continue reading
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Nothing Much New in Bratz
There was a recent summary judgment decision in the Mattel v. MGA Entertainment case (otherwise known as Barbie vs. Bratz), but nothing much notable on the ownership front. As it last stood, the Court of Appeals remanded the issue of ownership of the “Bratz” and “Jade” trademarks to the district court. Whether the names should… Continue reading
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An Ugly Trademark Ownership Decision
I’m only blogging about this case because I grew up within walking distance of the venue for the antique show with the disputed name, the Valley Forge Military Academy. The magistrate’s reasoning wasn’t so hot, but the district court managed to get it cleaned up. Bottom line is that the plaintiffs, the Gemmers, volunteered for several years to… Continue reading
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LunaTrex Out of the Race
A year ago, the LunaTrex team of the Google Lunar X Prize had fallen apart, as reported here. The problem manifest itself when the warring members each tried to claim ownership of the LunaTrex name. The X Foundation, sponsor of the contest, suspended the team until it received clear evidence of ownership of the LunaTrex… Continue reading
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Google Is the Senior User of ANDROID Mark
Google has successfully defeated an infringement claim over its use of the ANDROID trademark. So I thought I’d take a look at the bases, which include rarer claims of tacking and abandonment, along with a first use date kicker. Plaintiff Specht had a trademark registration for ANDROID DATA but went out of business. He assigned the mark… Continue reading
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Another Restaurant Name Dispute
Specimen One of the most common scenarios where trademark ownership disputes arise is between the owner of the building and the operator of the business in the building. There was the newsworthy “Tavern on the Green” case, where the City of New York successfully retained ownership of the name for the landmark building in Central… Continue reading
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Why Does a Subsidiary Need a License Agreement?
Bankruptcy. Not sure it would have made a difference in the outcome here, but it might have helped. Ham’s Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chelda, Inc., operated restaurants under the “Ham’s” brand: Ham’s Inc. filed for bankruptcy and RCR Marketing, LLC bought all of Ham’s “right, title and interest in the assets, property and rights,… Continue reading
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Unremarkable Manufacturer-Distributor Dispute
Wincam America, Inc., a distributor for CD Lab AG Multimedia Systems, filed applications to register the WINCAM and WINCAM AMERICA trademarks in the U.S. CD Lab, the foreign owner of the WINCAM mark, was unhappy. Wincam America set out the possible scenarios: (1) withdraw the applications, (2) CD Lab register the marks and Wincam America… Continue reading
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“Dad, Who Owns the Mark?”
Arredondo v. Arredondo is a classic family dispute over trademark ownership. Here, two brothers, Carlos and Caesar, were successful real estate developers–so successful that they established the Arredondo Properties Limited Partnership (APLP) to invest in projects and gather and distribute income to the Arredondo family for the next 200 years. APLP had no employees and… Continue reading
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The Writing on the Wall
Sometimes you should just know when to quit. Not that clients always go along with it, or that you have a choice, but some cases are just losers. The Daniel Group v. Service Performance Group, Inc. is one of those. The facts are simple – senior common law user (defendant Service Performance Group, Inc.) and… Continue reading
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