USPTO Closed on March 3, 2014 due to weather.
When the Dumb Starbucks store showed up late last week in Los Angeles, there was a lot of media attention on it. One defense that I heard in the media was that it was a parody of a Starbucks store and, therefore, it was probably ok. That’s not exactly the case.
In recent years, we are seeing common words being trademarked that borders on ridiculous. How can common words that are used in every day language and useded in hundreds of brand products be trademarked? One such recent example is game developer King.com attempts to trademark the word “Candy” for their Candy Crush game. Is this […]
Let’s say tomorrow I produce an amazing product (a honey that doesn’t stick, a soda that never fizzles, thread that easily goes through a needle) and I am ready to take this creation to market. Now, what do I call it? Something catchy of course. As I sit down with my friends and brainstorm names, […]
In another Goliath versus David trademark battle, Bubble by Brooks successfully triumphs over corporate giant Brooks Brothers in the rights to keep “Brooks” company name. Over a year ago, Bubble by Brooks owner, Amy Brooks received a trademark infringement action lawsuit from high end clothier Brooks Brothers. The Brooks Brothers attorneys stated in their case […]
On January 15th, Samsung trademarked the name “Galaxy Card”. But for what? Some are speculating that Samsung is looking to get into the Mobile Payment game, much like Google and other enterprising technologists have done. Innovating in other areas and trying to be more competitive with Google and Apple, Samsung has recently released a “wearable” […]
Austrian crystal jewelry maker, Swarovski has decided to not renew its trademark “Crystal Glamour”. In 2005, Swarovski received the registration for the term and filed the trademark as a “proposed to use” basis. However, their claim to the trademark was disputed by Crystal Knitters, a textile manufacturer from Tirupur. Crystal Knitters claims that they have […]
On December 9th, 2013, Exit 6 brewery outside of St. Louis, Missouri received a cease and desist letter from one of America’s largest national chains for coffee, Starbucks. The Starbucks’ legal team contacted the brewpub in an effort to have the business stop using the term “Frappicino” to describe one of the brewery’s stouts, a […]
Duckhorn Vineyards is suing Trinchero Family Estates over trademark infringement of their wine brand. Trinchero Family Estates recently paired up with A&E’s reality television family, Duck Dynasty, to produce a new wine called Duck Commander. Duckhorn argues their new wine brand infringes upon their already well established 30 year old brand causing consumer confusion. Is […]
