By Trey Holloway It is difficult to overstate Google’s influence. Since it emerged victorious in the search engine wars of the early internet, Google has grown to staggering proportions, serving an average of 63,000 web searches per second, or over 5 BILLION each day. With this incredible volume of searches, Google has arguably become the most effective advertising platform on the planet. Enter Google AdWords. Basically, Google AdWords allow companies to increase their visibi

As you may know, at any time, you can check the status of any pending or registered trademark at the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) tab, http://tsdr.uspto.gov/. You can find the status of a mark, assignment information, owner information, the goods and/or services covered by the trademark, and more. Following up on a previous blog entry, the USPTO has worked to increase communication and understanding of

Part of my position as an international paralegal is handling the recordation of ownership changes in various countries. This can be challenging when you have a client with a large, worldwide IP portfolio that frequently undergoes legal entity changes, such as conversion from a corporation to a limited liability company. It is even more challenging when there are several changes that were not previously recorded and you have to play catch up. Changes in ownership should be re

Most of the general public is now familiar with the TM and ® symbols used in trademark talk. The TM symbol is generally used after a word, phrase, or symbol to identify the preceding as a trademark or service mark with the associated common law rights to the mark. Service marks sometimes, though less commonly, use the SM symbol. The ® symbol is also used in a similar way with the key distinction being that the latter is reserved for trademarks or service marks registered by

While I am not a big TSwift fan (or T-Swizzle as she is also commonly referred to), I am well aware, just like the rest of the world, that there are many, many people out there that love the lady and her music. However, given the recent headlines I have come across, I do have to acknowledge Ms. Swift’s (and her team of managers and advisors) forward thinking, planning, and knowledge of the value of her intellectual property. The steps that she and her team have taken to prote

Black Friday may be over but the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) still has deals for trademark applicants and owners. Reduced fees for trademark applications and renewals are coming on January 17, 2015. Conditions may apply depending on the filing option applicants choose. The conditions mainly deal with whether applicants are filing electronically and how much information can be supplied at the beginning of the application process. So you get protection of

According to 15 U.S.C. § 1127, a trademark is “a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” While we are all familiar with word trademarks and their associated logos, for companies such as Ford®, Coca-Cola®, or Nike®, a less traditional style of trademark, sound or aural marks, are increasingly being used by businesses to remind consumers of the goods or services they provide. If you hear a

What is that actor’s name that is in that alien movie that came out last year? You know, the guy with the tattoos on his face…..? When I can’t remember, I just Google it or IMDB1 it. This is just one example of what I am sure are the many ways in which I use brand names in a generally descriptive way to take the place of actions in my everyday language. Many items and words we use daily, like zippers and Kleenex, were once brand names. Surprisingly to me, even heroin was once

On June 18, 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six registered REDSKINS marks owned by Pro-Football, Inc.1 for the second time.2 In 1992, seven Native Americans filed a petition to cancel the same six REDSKINS marks. After seven years of litigation, the TTAB ordered the cancelation of the marks. In 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia overturned the TTAB order under the affirmative

The powers of the state versus the federal government have been debated since Jefferson and Madison. The debate spills over into so many areas of personal and business life and trademarks are no exception. The Lanham Act and the Supremacy Clause would be the presumptive guides in any state versus federal trademark conflict. Obviously the Supremacy Clause sets a Federal registration in the top spot in the trademark pyramid. But there is an important exception to that Federal p

The A&E Channel is not the only one targeting the popular family behind Duck Dynasty. The Robertson family has found themselves in yet another controversy, this time it’s centered on a wine label. Duckhorn, a Napa Valley wine company, is pursuing a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit against Trinchero Family Estates and its Duck Commander line of wines. The Wines From information stated in the complaint, Duckhorn is based in Napa Valley and has used the “Duc

The yard sale, a horrible scene of carnage and tie-dye, is an American economic tradition. Behind a table, a husband sobs as his beloved Collector’s Edition Big Mouth Billy Bass is sold to a snickering teenager. The wife gleefully collects the $1.50. This is a secondary sale, a physically staked Craigslist and eBay. This is not the easily defined black market. No, these three innocents of a seemingly simple transaction have just crossed over into the Grey Market. The Grey Mar

In a continuation of my last blog entry, which you can read here, the world of licensing and trademarks in sports has gained even further attention. Most recently the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is dealing with lawsuits or the threat of lawsuits in the immediate future, due to potential licensing and trademark infringement. The NCAA bylaws prohibit forms of pay received by collegiate athletes due to their amateur status. Prohibited forms of pay include, bu

In the wake of .xxx domains becoming reality in 2012, ICANN, the entity which governs Internet domain names, began accepting applications last year for custom generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Under ICANN’s New gTLD Program, instead of being restricted to .com, .net, .info and the like, custom suffixes can be purchased and used as website addresses, such as for brands like .HJK, .facebook or .google, for generic terms like .news, .lawyer or .food, or for geographic terms lik

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are not only top level entertainers, but they are also savvy business people. Merely nineteen days after the birth of their first child, Blue Ivy Carter, they filed for trademark protection for her name in ten International Classes of goods and services which include the following (descriptions have been abbreviated): International Class 003 for skin care and hair products International Class 006 for key chains International Class 009 for DVDs, CDs, audio an

The United States Patent and Trademark (“USPTO”) does more than issue patents and trademark registrations. One of their lesser-known databases is the Native American Tribal Insignia Database. This database is a collection of official tribal insignia submitted by federally or state recognized Native American tribes. Tribes are not required to submit their insignia to the database, nor do they receive additional protection by their inclusion in the database. Rather, the databas

That is correct, there is an Android powered phone called the iphone that is for sale in Brazil. The formal name of the device is the Gradiente iphone Neo One and Apple cannot do anything about it at the moment. You may be asking yourself how such a world renowned brand is facing these kinds of issues. Well, the short answer is that U.S. and Brazilian trademark law differ quite significantly. In Brazil, a trademark’s first registrant has full trademark protection rights, wher

What do the words “aspirin”, “escalator”, “zipper”, and “margarine” have in common? Read on to find out! Article 15 Section 1127 of the United States Code defines the purpose of a trademark as “to identify and distinguish his or her goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown.” Once a trademark ceases to carry out this function of separating a product from its competitors,

When protecting intellectual property internationally, often an applicant of a U.S. trademark application or registration will want to protect their mark in several countries, but is unaware of the applicable laws that govern the intellectual property of that country. An option that has become quite viable and saves the applicant time and money would be to file for protection within the Madrid Protocol. The Madrid Protocol is system for registering international marks. In 189

Loubiton is to Red as Cadbury is to _________ A. Blue B. Red C. Purple D. none of the above If you guessed C. Purple, you are correct! Over the past couple of months we have been paying close attention to the controversial court battle of Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America Holding, Inc., 778 F. 3d (2nd Cir. 2012) where it was finally decided that Louboutin has trademark protection on their red soled shoes when the sole’s color contrasts with the adjoin