This past week, I conducted a trademark search for a client that reminded me just how wacky and frustrating the Trademark Office can be. For a variety of reasons, I am not going to reveal the exact trademark I searched. Instead, I will say that I performed a trademark search on the mark THE CARBON [...]
“2012″ Trademarks: Amusing, Interesting, and Presumptuous
First of all, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope 2012 brings all of you much joy, success, and prosperity. My New Year’s resolution is to continue building my trademark law practice and to spend more time seeing and learning about the world. I’m actually going on my very first [...]
Atlanta Braves File Trademark Opposition Against Disney’s Trademark Applications for “BRAVE”
I almost put this trademark dispute in the “ridiculous trademark opposition” category, but I didn’t want to add insult to injury after the Atlanta Braves’ embarrassing late-season collapse that resulted in the team missing the postseason after leading the St. Louis Cardinals by 10.5 games in the wild card race. See, I actually do have [...]
Can Coca-Cola Own Trademark Rights in the Word “Zero?”
This week’s trademark article is about one of my favorite sodas currently on the market. It has that unmistakable Coca-Cola taste with none of the high fructose corn syrup that makes you fat. Honestly, I have no idea why someone would choose to buy Diet Coke when Coca-Cola Zero is readily available and has so [...]
No Trademark Search = Infringement Notice from Maker of Dr. Martens
A couple of weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a potential client located here in the Midwest. He told me that he recently received a letter from a trademark attorney representing Airwair International Limited. Airwair is the British company that manufactures Dr. Martens footwear. Now, if you’ve ever owned a pair of Dr. [...]
Ridiculous Trademark Dispute of the Week: The Battle for “YUUUP!”
This week’s article is about an awesome reality show on the A&E television network and some rapper I’ve never heard of who hopefully falls off the face of the Earth sooner rather than later after stirring up this ridiculous trademark dispute. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of watching “Storage Wars,” the [...]
Trademarkville: A Place Where Zynga Files Lots of Trademark Oppositions
If you’re a fan of online or mobile gaming, then you’re probably very familiar with Zynga. Zynga has provided people all over the globe with more ways to waste time than probably any other software company in recent memory. In fact, many of you have probably spent what amounts to months of your life playing [...]
St. Louis Cardinals – 11 Championships. 30 Trademark Registrations.
In honor of the St Louis Cardinals’ unbelievable late season comeback and amazing Word Series victory, I am dedicating this week’s post to looking at the early history of the Cardinals’ trademarks and federal trademark registrations. You know, especially since neither Fox nor ESPN is going to bring you this type of hard-hitting and eye-opening [...]
Is Chrysler’s IMPORTED FROM DETROIT Trademark Primarily Geographically Descriptive? One Intellectual Property Thief Thinks So.
If you watched the Super Bowl last February, you may remember the gritty two-minute commercial produced by the Chrysler automobile company featuring rap superstar Eminem driving a brand new Chrysler 200 through the streets of Detroit. With Eminem’s huge hit “Lose Yourself” playing in the background, the narrator basically talks about how the Motor City [...]
