fraud
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Wrist-Rocket Factors Applied
Haggar International Corp. v. United Company for Food Industry Corp. is a fairly classic manufacturer-distributor dispute. The conflict started over twenty years ago and the suit has been pending for nine years, which explains why the parties have widely differing recollection of relevant events. Hat’s off to the court for sorting out the mess. The […] Continue reading
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Another Band Name Ownership Decision
Ok, I’m very confused by the decision in the TTAB case O.T.H. Enterprises, Inc. v. Vasquez. What’s confusing is that the Board discusses, in two separate parts of the decision, ownership of the mark and priority. I don’t really get that – if the case is about who owns the mark, what other mark is […] Continue reading
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The Piano Mark Was Apparently Not Abandoned
I previously told the story of what I characterized as a zombie piano trademark for SOHMER. The long version is here and the short version is that an owner of the mark, Burgett, Inc., had a period of non-use during which time it allowed the registrations to lapse; upon discovering the lapse another piano manufacturer, […] Continue reading
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Two Companies Making Pianos, One Mark
Digging into an interesting decision about the duty to defend an insurance claim turns out to be a long tale about a zombie mark, with strategic moves in prosecution, before the TTAB, and in federal court. It’s still going, but as far as I can tell all that should be left to decide is damages. […] Continue reading
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When the Law Fails
Sometimes I find great dissonance between the application of trademark law and the marketplace realities. The parties line all their legal ducks up in a nice straight row, but there’s just such an inconsistency between what the legal outcome is and what consumers’ understanding of the situation might be. E & J Gallo v. Proximo […] Continue reading
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How Damaging To Your Case is a Cancelled Trademark Registration?
I ran across a point about enforceability of a trademark that I don’t recall seeing before, which is that a trademark for which the registration was procured by fraud is unenforceable. The point is made in Firehouse Restaurant Group, Inc. v. Scurmont LLC, a case in which a jury held, and the court affirmed, that […] Continue reading
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When Are You a “Distributor”?
There’s a presumption in manufacturer-distributor cases that the manufacturer owns the mark. Is the presumption deserved? What is fundamentally different between a manufacturer-distributor relationship and one where a company contracts for the manufacture of its product (an OEM relationship), when there isn’t the same presumption? Does it fall into one category or the other just […] Continue reading
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Fraud is Very Popular
John Welch at the TTABlog asks, would you have opposed? It’s another case where a claim of fraud was premised on the theory that the applicant wasn’t the owner of the mark. The applicant Galaxy Metal Gear, Inc. Direct Access Technology, Inc. (DAT) applied for METAL GEAR for hard drive enclosures. It had them manufactured […] Continue reading
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Fraud is Really Hard to Prove
The TTABlog reports on a case involving a fairly common type of dispute, between a manufacturer and importer, albeit with a twist. I’ll elaborate a little more on the claim that relates to the ownership of the mark. The importer was the registrant of the mark ZYTNIA for vodka; the Polish manufacturer filed a petition […] Continue reading
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The City Owns “Tavern on the Green”
You just can’t trust your readership. When the City of New York first claimed that it owned the name of the landmark New York City restaurant “Tavern on the Green,” I posted a poll asking readers’ opinion. The result from the many, many voters (15) was resoundingly in favor of the restaurant. We were wrong, […] Continue reading
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