family
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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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The Family Name
This case is not just a trademark suit with a domestic relations background; it is a domestic relations dispute over the ownership of marital property, which happens to be a trademark. It is a marital settlement that makes any trademark attorney’s heart sink. While they were married, exes Randy Zweifel and Linda Smith held equal… Continue reading
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A Family of Marks with Different Owners
The “family of marks” concept in trademark law is a difficult one to win. We all understand the concept, which is that consumers realize that when trademarks share a similar trait, like restaurant food products that start with “Mc,” the goods come from the same source. Proof of a family of marks is challenging, though.… Continue reading
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All I Know Is YOU Don’t Own It
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board is a tribunal of limited jurisdiction. All it has to decide is whether a particular applicant or registrant may own a registration for a particular trademark. In other words, it doesn’t have to decide who wins as between two parties, but rather just has to decide whether one party… 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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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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How the Copyright Act Changes Lives
The Vanity Fair issue has been out for awhile now, but for anyone interested in Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” John Steinbeck, publishing, legal intrigue, contracts, copyright termination, or underhanded dealing, there is a lengthy investigative article in the August issue called “To Steal a Mockingbird.” It is the story behind a lawsuit filed… Continue reading
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I Have Never Seen An Ownership Case So Complicated
I’ve read a lot of cases with convoluted fact patterns, which I guess is how they end up in litigation. But C.F.M. Dist. Co. v. Costantine, an opposition before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, is in the stratosphere of convoluted. Not surprisingly, it’s about a family business. In a 44-page decision, 4 pages are… Continue reading
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Think of the Trademark Too
“Lingo v Lingo,” so you know where this is going. In this case brother versus sister, arguing over ownership of the trademark for “Lingo’s Market” in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The opinion isn’t terribly clear on the facts, so I’ve put the story together from the pleadings and the decision. Lingo’s Market was opened in Rehoboth… Continue reading
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Ho Hum Naked Licensing Case
I came away from reading Eva’s Bridal Ltd. v. Halanick Enterprises, Inc. pretty much nonplussed. It’s a naked licensing decision out of the 7th Circuit, and I generally can get fairly riled up about naked licensing cases. But this case is so lacking in any facts that I just can’t say it was wrong –… Continue reading
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