By: Tyler Hampy Say that you really want to use a phrase or logo that you know is trademarked. Is there a way you can use the mark without getting yourself into trouble? The answer is yes! You need a trademark license. A trademark license is a permit to use another’s mark. It gives […]
Over the past summer Google+ has made a big deal about allowing select members to use vanity URLs. Google stated, “At first, we’re introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned!” […]
I’ve filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register my trademark and I have received correspondence indicating that my registration of my applied for mark had been refused based upon a likelihood of confusion. What does this mean? One of the more popular rejections from the USPTO involves […]
In 1955, a 65 year old man wearing a white suit to match his white hair and goatee took $105 out his social security to start franchising his fried chicken recipe. Less than ten years later, he had 600 franchisee restaurants selling his famous Kentucky Fried Chicken. This man was the legendary Colonel Harland […]
In the early 1990’s before the dot.com craze, a young entrepreneur named Ray Sozzi started his company Student Advantage. His company sold student advantage discount membership cards to the higher education market. In a stroke of genius or good fortune, he decided to secure several domain names for his business. One of the domain […]
By: Mark R. Malek The first article I posted about this series was directed to the duty to disclose prior art to the Patent Office during the patent prosecution process. The next article tried to give some information about what constituted prior art. Now that we know what prior art is, let’s go over some […]
By: Mark R. Malek In my last article, I noted that an inventor has a duty to disclose prior art that they know of when filing a patent application. But what is prior art? The answer to this question is extraordinarily important in determining not only patentability of an invention, but also in determining whether […]
Can a company’s mascots be trademarked? The answer to that question is yes, yes they can. A trademark is defined by dictionary.com as any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them from those manufactured […]
To prevail on a Lanham Act trademark claim in the Ninth Circuit, a plaintiff must prove: (1) that it has a protectable ownership interest in the mark; and (2) that the defendant’s use of the mark is likely to cause consumer confusion. The first element is rather easy to prove if one has a […]
