trademark
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A Wasting Asset
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) oversees multiple federal programs established by Congress to promote certain agricultural commodities. These programs are funded by “checkoffs” — mandatory assessments that producers and importers pay on the sale or import of the commodity. The assessments are used to pay for a range of activities, including research and marketing… Continue reading
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The Questionable Benefit of Not Keeping Your Corporations Straight
One of the most difficult ownership questions is who owns intangible assets created by a person who is the sole shareholder of a legal entity. There isn’t any receipt, or a check written against the corporate account, as evidence of ownership. Trademarks can be the most difficult because people don’t tend to think of them… Continue reading
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A Circuit Split That Isn’t, At Least Not Yet
Here is a really interesting decision in a bankruptcy case. If those words make you cringe, stop reading now because we’re going into the weeds. The question is what rights a trademark licensee has when its licensor declares bankruptcy. As a general rule, the trustee can elect to reject an executory contract under § 365(a). However,… Continue reading
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A Thing of Beauty
I don’t think I have ever been so excited about an exhibit in a case before. It’s one that makes the heart of a person who writes about trademark ownership sing. Just look at it: Yes, it is a pawn ticket. I have looked at many documents claiming to be a trademark assignment and this… Continue reading
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I Think This One Is Wrong
Moreno v. Pro Boxing Supplies, Inc. is a precedential decision and, IMHO, clearly contrary to the Board’s controlling precedent. Opposer and petitioner Julie Moreno is the exclusive US licensee of the unregistered trademark CASANOVA for boxing equipment: Applicant and Registrant Pro Boxing Supplies is the owner of a registration for CASANOVA in standard character form… Continue reading
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It’s The Details
What a confusing ownership case (which perhaps means that the wise reader stops right here). Errors on every level, at the end of the day unrecoverable. The parties are Paradise Biryani, Inc. (PBI), Paradise Biryani Express, Inc. (Express), and Biryani Point Paradise LLC (PBB) on one side, and Paradise Hospitality Group, LLC (PHG) on the… Continue reading
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The World’s Most Ambiguous Trademark Assignment
Gosh I love this case. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s resoundingly wrong, but what a fascinating way to get there. Plaintiff Quantum, Inc. sells natural health products. It owned the registered trademark MigreLief for “nutritional supplement containing feverfew and other natural ingredients for relieving headaches.” The trademark was registered in 1996, a date… Continue reading
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Five Years Later, It Doesn’t Matter Who Filed It
It’s pretty official at this point, once a trademark registration is “mature,” that is, more than five years old, the registration cannot be challenged on the basis that the original application was not filed by the then-owner of the mark. The 6th Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, reached this conclusion and we now have the… Continue reading
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Licenses, Consents or Assignments?
Lawn Managers, Inc. v. Progressive Lawn Managers, Inc. is about a trademark and a divorce, a case we’ve visited before. Where we last left it, the federal court was abstaining to allow the parties to figure things out in family court. As it turns out that order was vacated; on reconsideration the court concluded that… Continue reading
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