On June 19, 2017, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (Judge Gorsuch did not participate in the hearing or decision) held that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) could no longer refuse federal registration of “disparaging trademarks” holding that the “disparagement clause” of the Federal Trademark Act (also known as the Lanham Act) violates the Free Speech Clause of the First …

Last month, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB” or “Board”) issued a precedential decision, affirming the Trademark Office’s refusal of registration for BELUSHI’S for “travel  reservations” and related services and “hotel…restaurant and catering services” and related services” on grounds that the mark is “primarily merely a surname.” Although the Board admitted in this case the surname is rare, it …

What do marijuana and margarita have in common?  Well, according to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, both are terms that the public associates with representing a similar “state of mind” whether induced by a cocktail or the grassy substance.  Marijuanaville? Recently, the Board found that the marks MARIJUANAVILLE applied for various clothing items in Class 25 to be confusingly …

Catalogs as Specimens Earlier this month, the TTAB refused registration for the mark TSUBAKI: THE CHOICE FOR CHAIN pursuant to Sections 1 and 45 of the Trademark Act on the ground that applicant U.S. Tsubaki, Inc. failed to submit a specimen showing proper trademark use. Applicant submitted six (6) specimens with its application – all of them catalogs or advertising …

CANDY is a Sweet Trademark In the past few weeks, the internet has been on fire with commentary from so-called experts and laypeople alike aghast at how King.com was able to get its trademark application for CANDY through the U.S. Trademark Office. Trademark Application That trademark application is currently pending at the Trademark Office, which means, the registration has not …

New Trademark Office ID Manual Effective January 1, 2014, the U.S. Trademark Office has updated its Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual to reflect changes made to the Nice Classification, Tenth Edition, version 2014. These changes will affect all trademark applications filed in the U.S. For more information, please see U.S. Trademark Office or Contact us for further information.

Pro Se Trademark Applicants – Proceed With Caution Recently, we reviewed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision that once again reinforced that far too many trademark applicants are filing and litigating their trademark cases pro se (without the advantage of having an experienced Trademark Attorney help them through the process). This particular case involved a dispute over the famous …