Last December, Alfonso Ribeiro, aka “Carlton Banks” of TV’s The Fresh Prince of Bel Air fame, sued the makers of popular video game Fortnight for using the dance his character made popular on the show. He claimed the Fortnight makers copied the two-step dance, alleging claims of copyright infringement. In order to sue in Federal Court on claims of copyright …
How to Protect Your Trademark
Trademarks are valuable intellectual property assets in that they are the only form of intellectual property that effectively has no term. Although trademarks must be renewed every ten years, so long as a trademark is properly used in interstate commerce in connection with its registered goods and/or services, a trademark can be active for as long as it is in …
Top 10 Trademark Questions Answered – Part 3
Over the past two weeks, we have highlighted six tips based on questions we are most frequently asked. This week we wrap up our three-part series and discuss issues like how to properly use and enforce trademark rights. If we didn’t answer your most frequently asked question, please visit our FAQs on our website or contact us for more information. …
#COVFEFE Does Not Function as a Trademark
Who can forget when President Trump made this tweet: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”? No one knew what it meant, and the tweet became instantly infamous. That same day, May 31, 2017, an enterprising trademark applicant, filed a U.S. trademark application for #COVFEFE in Class 25 for hats; T-shirts, and other clothing items; however, last week the Trademark Trial …
Top 10 Trademark Questions Answered – Part 2 of 3
Last week we highlighted the first two (of 10) trademark tips based on questions we are most often asked. If you missed that post, you can read it here. This week we share four more tips focused on the application process to help businesses of all kinds be successful business owners. If you need help with a trademark matter or …
Top 10 Trademark Questions Answered – Part 1 of 3
This year, resolve to protect your intellectual property assets. Did you know that of all the branches of intellectual property, trademark rights have no fixed term and can be protected indefinitely as long as they are used in interstate commerce? This makes trademarks more valuable than patents or copyrights both of which have fixed terms. In this three-part series, we …
Counterfeit Goods – Why Should You Care?
Counterfeit goods are the world’s largest illegitimate industry. Why should you care? In October, I educated more than 400 attorneys on how to protect their clients’ brands against counterfeiters. These continuing legal education programs were well-received. As intellectual property counsel representing brand owners, we are continually concerned about counterfeit goods as one of the biggest threats to a brand. But, …
Who Owns Your Trademark?
The answer is not as simple as you might think. Ownership is a threshold issue at the USPTO and yet many applicants get this wrong on their application. If the application is filed in the name of the wrong trademark owner, it may result in your trademark being worth less than the piece of paper it is printed on. Here, …
What Is an Office Action?
If you recently filed a trademark application with the USPTO in the past four months, you may have received an Office Action in response to your application. What is an Office Action? In its simplest form, an Office Action is a letter from the USPTO addressing any and all informalities with the application. These can range from very simple procedural …
What to Do When you Get a Cease & Desist Letter
First of all, and most importantly, do not panic. What is a cease and desist letter, you ask? Well, a cease and desist letter is a letter from a third party that objects to your use of a trademark (or other form of intellectual property) on the grounds that the third party believes your use of the trademark is so …