Trademark examining attorneys occasionally make mistakes and often the error can’t be challenged once the trademark is registered.* In Vujovic v. Octop there was a clear procedural error and it was most likely outcome determinative. Two people worked together at a company called “Octop.” The opinion doesn’t have much information (because most of the...
Read more →Oh no, I don’t think so. The Camellia Grill was a New Orleans restaurant that closed in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Various aspects of the business were owned by various entities owned by Michael Shwartz; for our purposes we’ll just refer to them all as “Shwartz.” In August, 2007, Shwartz entered into several agreements...
Read more →A claim for trademark infringement can be brought under two different sections of the Lanham Act, Section 32 for infringement of registered trademarks and Section 43(a) for infringement of unregistered trademarks.* Registration provides some evidentiary benefits, like prima facie evidence of distinctiveness, so if a plaintiff doesn’t have a registered trademark then it will...
Read more →When we file trademark applications electronically, there is a form declaration for the signatory. At the time Slep-Tone Entertainment filed its applications, this was the language: The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001, and...
Read more →Oh, Federal Treasury Enterprise Sojuzplodoimport, without you I wouldn’t be so good at spelling “Stolichnaya.”* I’ve lost count of the opinions talking about who owns the STOLICHNAYA trademark and we’re now on the second lawsuit over it. It all stems from a disputed claim of ownership of the STOLICHNAYA mark in the United States....
Read more →The restaurants in the Benihana chain have two different owners, divided by territory. Defendant Benihana, Inc. (“BI”) owns the BENIHANA trademark in the United States, Central America, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean, the “Territory.” Plaintiff Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. (alert! noisy autoplay link) (“BOT”) owns the rights to the BENIHANA trademark...
Read more →There is a rash of lawsuits brought by photographic agencies against textbook publishers, claiming that the publishers underreported the number of copies of books that were published. The publishers are fighting back and there are two main grounds for attack—that the requirements for registration were not met and that the individual photographers’ assignments to...
Read more →The case is several months old, but still worth writing about: it’s a cogent explanation by a court of appeals about the scope of copyright registration for joint works. The case is complicated with many issues, but I’ll only relate the part of the story relevant to ownership and registration of copyright. In 1993,...
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When we last visited DeliverMed Holdings, LLC v. Schaltenbrand, plaintiff DeliverMed had lost on all claims, including on some copyright and trademark theories. DeliverMed appealed the holdings that it was not the owner of the copyright in this logo and that the copyright registration was invalid. The district court was colorful in its description...
Read more →Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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