And so it is March. Flowers will bloom, trees will bud, and collegiate titans will clash in the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Perhaps you have heard of March Madness. If you have not, then this tidbit might not be for you. If you have, then you know that March Madness is the moniker […]
Read More →Last month, in a rather unremarkable decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed a refusal to register Jed’s Jerky for… jerky. The examining attorney refused registration on the ground that the mark so resembled Jed’s for barbeque sauce that consumers would likely be confused about whether Jed’s Jerky and Jed’s barbeque sauce come […]
Read More →What does a trademark nerd do at Thanksgiving time? This one searched the Patent and Trademark Office trademark database for turkey trademarks. Good times! I learned some interesting things from the turkey trademark records, and I think that some might amuse you. ( ® denotes marks that are registered; ™ denotes marks that were, but […]
Read More →Donald J. Trump is the most highly branded candidate who ever ran for office. Regardless of what anyone thinks about the man, one can’t help but be impressed by the sheer number OF Trump trademarks, and the marks themselves. Because I am a trademark nerd, I spent too much time looking into his trademark records […]
Read More →Louis Vuitton sells luxury products that command very high prices. Its trademarks are very well known and they are extremely valuable. This makes LV a tantalizing and frequent target of counterfeiters. Customs and Border Patrol does what it can to stem the tide of counterfeit products entering the US. CBP reports that, in 2014, it […]
Read More →My mom made potato salad – very good potato salad. She made potato salad with potatoes, mayonnaise, eggs, onion, celery, and salt. More specifically, she made potato salad with Idaho® potatoes, Hellman’s® mayonnaise, eggs, onion, celery, and salt. No other mayonnaise, and no other potato, would do. Mom believed that Hellman’s® was the best mayonnaise. […]
Read More →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 […]
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