Category Archive

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) first announced that trademark filing fees would be increasing in August 2019 but delayed rolling out the increase due to the pandemic. Late this summer, the new Commissioner of Trademarks announced that the increase would become effective January 2, 2021 without announcing the specific fee structure. The USPTO has not raised fees …

A trademark opposition is a type of litigation proceeding at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) where a third party can object to your application before it is granted a registration. Essentially, when someone files an opposition against your application, they are telling the USPTO that they would be harmed if your trademark could be registered. What does it …

Navigating how to use your trademark is as important to understand as when to seek protection for your trademark. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the TM symbol and the circle R symbol when using your trademark? The differences between the two are important, so please read on. What is a trademark? A trademark is a word, …

On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) had no reservations in finding that Booking.com is a recognized trademark and not a generic term as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) had argued. In the highly anticipated 8-1 majority opinion written by Justice Ginsburg, SCOTUS ultimately ruled that the adding of the “.com” top level domain (“TLD”) …

An unrepresented individual filed a trademark application last week for GEORGE FLOYD for “production and distribution of television shows and movies” and his name is not George Floyd, obviously. This kind of opportunism must stop. Since George Floyd’s death, there have also been ten trademark applications filed for I CAN’T BREATHE or close variations thereof, mostly for clothing and surgical …

We all recognize this logo. It goes with three little words – JUST DO IT. In late April 2020, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) held that Nike’s slogan JUST DO IT is a famous trademark and refused to register the mark JUST DREW IT! for various types of athletic apparel. Nike argued that its JUST DO IT mark …

On April 23, 2020, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) ruled that the Lanham Act does not require that a trademark infringer must willfully violate the law in order to award profits in a trademark case. SCOTUS held that while “willfulness” is still an important factor for courts when considering awarding profits, it cannot justify a strict precondition for a …

UPDATED 4/28/2020 Last week on March 31, 2020, the USPTO announced it was providing extensions of time on some trademark deadlines due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, the USPTO issued more guidance about its recent announcement.  Some of you may wonder why the USPTO waited so long to provide relief to trademark owners. Until Congress passed the …

In the United States, trademarks are valid so long as they are in continuous use in commerce. What happens if you are not able to use your trademark in association with your registered goods and/or services due to circumstances beyond the trademark owner’s control? Given the current global climate and with more than 50% of the U.S. population currently ordered …

Please stop wasting your money and filing U.S. trademarks to protect the terms COVID, COVID-19 or CORONAVIRUS.  They are not trademarks! As of this morning, there are more than 35 new applications on file, with more than 20 of them all for clothing and apparel items, that claim some type of exclusive branding protection over one of these three terms.  …