Maumee Bay Brewing Company was launched twenty years ago. Located in the Oliver House in downtown Toledo, Maumee Bay crafts more than two dozen beers. That’s a lot of beer, and a lot of trademarks! This year, Maumee Bay applied for federal registration of five of its handcrafted beer trademarks, and the applications have been […]
Read More →(And how about them scandalous trademarks?) Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act provides that federal registration of a trademark may be refused if the mark “…consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols…” Last […]
Read More →Several states have legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana. The legal landscape for pot purveyors is complicated, to say the least, by the fact that marijuana is a controlled substance under federal law. The Controlled Substances Act prohibits, among other things, growing, transporting, selling, buying, and using marijuana, i.e., the activities which define the […]
Read More →In 2003, Daimler-Chrysler proudly introduced the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Billed as an off-road ready vehicle, the Rubicon was a game changer from the beginning. Before the Rubicon, production Jeep Wranglers needed to be upgraded, at a cost of $5000 or $6000, to be fully off-road ready. Few customers understood this, but off-road enthusiasts did and […]
Read More →Did you hear the one about the inventor who asked his intellectual property attorney if he could help the inventor get a patent on his new invention? The attorney said “I don’t know. What’s the invention?” The inventor said “It’s a wheel.” Well that’s how it happened in 1991 when Rolf Dietrich came to see […]
Read More →This week, I attended a webinar hosted by Anaqua, a firm that provides “Intellectual Asset Management Software and Services.” The webinar featured David Gooder who is the Managing Director & Chief Trademark Counsel of Jack Daniel’s Properties. This is not a plug for Anaqua or for Jack Daniel’s. It is a review of some of […]
Read More →One of my clients makes and sells delicious homemade pies. This client created a trademark tag line, “Eat More Pie!” to promote its wares. To my delight, this client contacted me BEFORE adopting the tagline, and hired me to perform a search for marks that might conflict with its use and registration of this trademark. […]
Read More →Last month, one of my clients sent me a cease and desist (cease to exist) letter that she received from a lawyer in Texas. The letter alleged that she was infringing his client’s trademark. A week before Texas sent the letter, the Patent and Trademark Office issued a certificate of trademark registration to his client. […]
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