By: Widerman Malek Team Is a “trade name” the same thing as a “trademark?” This is a topic that seems to give people trouble. The Lanham Act offers some help to distinguish the terms. By definition, a “trade name” is any name used by a person to identify his or her business or vocation. […]
In my last post, I discussed the ability to trademark generic terms. This post focuses on trademarking geographic terms. In the United States, geographic terms can be registered and protected as trademarks identifying a single commercial source if certain conditions are met. Geographic terms have traditionally been very important in identifying the source and […]
By: Mark R. Malek My last article provided a brief overview of the patent system. I also wrote another article about why patents are somewhat important. This prompted me to reflect on my typical conversations with potential clients, and the questions that generally arise as to the different types of patents. This article will attempt to […]
In trademark law, marks are placed along a continuum of distinctiveness. If a mark is classified as not being inherently distinct, the mark must acquire distinctiveness in consumers’ minds to achieve trademark status. That acquired distinctiveness is called a “secondary meaning.” Secondary meaning is a new and additional meaning that attaches to a mark. […]
To prove copyright infringement, the plaintiff must show that it owns a valid copyright and must establish that the defendant engaged in the unauthorized copying of the work protected by the copyright. “Copying” refers to the act of infringing any of the exclusive rights that accrue to the owner of a valid copyright under 17 […]
What is a company trademark? “A trademark is 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 or sold by others.” – defined by dictionary.com. There are many different types of distinctive marks […]
Traditionally, trade dress was limited to the overall appearance of labels, wrappers, and containers used in packaging a product. However, over a period of years, the traditional definition expanded beyond packages and containers to include the total look of a product. Today, the total look includes the packaging, as well as the design, shape, size, […]
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 a […]
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 good […]
