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Federal Circuit: Cities Cannot Register Official Seals
The case In Re Houston, involved the City of Houston and the District of Columbia city seals. Both cities attempted to register their seals and both applications were rejected by an examining attorney at
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Groeneveld v. Lubecore: Trademarks Protect Brands, Not Product Functions
Groeneveld sued Lubecore arguing that Lubecore was selling a grease pump that was “virtually identical” to its own pump. According to Groeneveld, Lubecore was attempting “to confuse consumers into believing that the two pumps
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Using Someone’s Slogan is Not Fair Use
As blogged about previously here, a motivational services business Own Your Power Communications owed by Simone Kelly-Brown sued Oprah Winfrey and several of her companies for producing numerous publications, events, and online content using
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Louboutin Red Sole Trademark Partially Reinstated on Appeal
And then the other shoe dropped. As blogged about previously here, the United States District Court for the District of New York denied a motion for preliminary injunction requested by high fashion shoemaker Christian
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Yellowbook v. Brandeberry: Can you sell your a trademark and then continue to use it?
Steven Brandeberry operated a phonebook business under the name AMTEL. In 2002, Brandeberry sold his phonebook business to Barney White who then sold the business to Yellowbook. In 2009, Brandeberry decided to start up
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Eastland Music v. Lionsgate: Can a movie title infringe the name of music group?
Eastland Music Group owns the registered trademark Phifty-50, the name of a rap duo. Eastland also claims a trademark in 50/50. Lionsgate released a dark comedy in 2011 titled 50/50 starring Seth Rogen and
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Miller’s Ale House v. Carolina Ale House – Is copying a competitor’s name, décor, and layout fair competition or infringement?
Miller’s Ale House has approximately fifty locations primarily in Florida. Each location has a geographically determined name (e.g. a street, a town, a district) followed by the phrase Ale House. One location located in
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Already v. Nike – You Cannot Invalidate a Trademark After the Trademark Case is Settled
Nike sued Already, LLC dba YUMS (“Already”) alleging that Already’s “Soulja Boys” and “Sugars” shoes infringed or diluted Nike’s Air Force 1 shoe design trademark. Already filed a counter-claim to invalidate Nike’s trademark. In
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Oriental v. Cooperativa: How long is too long to wait to sue a trademark infringer?
Oriental Financial Group (“Oriental”) began using the mark COOP ORIENTAL in Puerto Rico in 1964. Two years later, in 1966, Cooperativa de Ahorro Y Crédito ORIENTAL (“Cooperativa”) began using the same COOP ORIENTAL mark
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When is Paris, not in France? In Re Miracle Tuesday
Miracle Tuesday, LLC filed an intent-to-use trademark application for the stylized mark JPK Paris 75 for sunglasses, wallets, handbags and purses, travel bags, suitcases, belts, and shoes. Because the applicant is a U.S. company,
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