Throughout history, women have made remarkable contributions to technology, and innovation, often without receiving the recognition they truly deserve.

Is WHOLESALEHOME merely descriptive of a "cloth for wiping or dusting" sold at wholesale through the internet, or is it registrable with a meaning distinct from its elements?

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently affirmed that a specific shade of bright green (Pantone 2297C) cannot be registered as a trademark for construction tripod legs due to functionality concerns. The decision highlights the complex interplay between color marks, safety features, and competitive disadvantage in trademark law, examining how high-visibility colors serve essential purposes beyond source identification.

The first user of a mark for particular goods or services has superior rights against a subsequent user of the same or similar mark for any goods or services that purchasers might reasonably expect to be...

A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court's dilution ruling in the decade-long trademark dispute between Jack Daniel's whiskey and VIP's "Bad Spaniels" parody dog toy. The Ninth Circuit held that Jack Daniel's failed to prove the humorous dog toy actually tarnished its famous brand, despite creating a mental association with the whiskey marks.

In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., the U.S. Supreme Court held that registering to do business in a state can result in a company being brought into court there on all claims, even ones that have nothing to do with that state or its residents.

A third party successfully challenged a U.S. trademark registration for DISCUSS.IO, forcing its cancellation due to insufficient proof of actual commercial use. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that promotional materials, articles, and archived screenshots failed to demonstrate that services were genuinely rendered in commerce at the application filing date, highlighting the critical importance of maintaining direct evidence of trademark use.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) generally refuses to register the configuration of a product as a trademark when that the configuration either is functional or does not identify...

In Vidal v. Elster, No. 22-704, 602 U.S. ____ (June 13, 2024), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the "names clause" of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052 (c), is constitutional...

In choosing a mark or its form of display, do not mimic a distinctive famous mark. If your mark is likely to dilute the famous mark's distinctiveness by blurring or tarnishment

Valentine's Day can bring love or heartbreak.

The Pennsylvania State University v. Vintage Brand, LLC, No. 4:21-cv-01091 (M.D. Penn. Nov. 19, 2024) is an important case.

Many of us are looking for humor to divert our attention from Coronavirus cabin fever. We are reminded of two cases in which animals—respectively a monkey and a cat—were held not to have ownership rights in intellectual property.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York that a sneaker, which featured for parodic purposes...

Prior to 2021, amateurism in college sports prohibited college athletes from capitalizing on their names, images, and likenesses, commonly known as "NIL."

New York State has enacted laws (a) affecting the use of AI images by the advertising industry and (b) updating requirements for the use of actual or digital images of deceased individuals.

Chateau Angelus S.A., a vineyard spanning eight generations in Saint-Émilion, France, sought to extend to the U.S. its International Registration ("IR") under the Madrid Protocol of ECHO D'ANGÉLUS for "wines" and "alcoholic beverages except beers".

A trademark is supposed to identify the source of the goods for which it is used and to distinguish them from the goods of others.

Companies have a long history of taking a humorous approach to advertising for April Fools' Day. The following selection of announcements of imaginary products...