Likelihood of Confusion »
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
Read More »Maker’s Mark Locks Up Dripping Red Wax as a Trade Dress for Alcohol
In Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc. v. Diageo North America, Inc., ___ F.3d. ___ (6th Cir. 2012), Marker’s Mark sued Jose Cuervo for trade dress infringement for including a red wax seal on its Reserva
Read More »Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Tire Trademarks
The Federal Circuit in Bridgestone v. Federal Corp., 10-01376, 2012 BL 61825 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 16, 2012) found Federal’s mark MILANZA for tires likely to be confused with Bridgestone’s marks for POTENZA and TURANZA
Read More »Eating Popcorn Naked – a Trademarked Way to Snack
Does NAKED POPCORN infringe HALF NAKED POPCORN? Good Health Natural Products, Inc. (“Good Health”) the makers of Half Naked Popcorn think so. Good Health has sued The Mediterranean Snack Food Company, LLC (“Mediterranean Snack
Read More »Directional Arrow or Trademark Infringment? In-N-Out Burgers v. Pappas Burger
On November 15, 2011, In-N-Out Burger sued the Houston franchise Pappas Burger for trademark infringement in a Texas federal court. The complaint claims that the Pappas Burger’s sign in the Houston airport (pictured below)
Read More »Facebook “Like” Trademark Applications in Thumb War with TiVo and Searchteq, Blocked by “iLike”
On April 21, 2010 Facebook filed fourteen applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office trying to corner the word mark “like” as well as the stylized version of the mark with the
Read More »Own Your Power – Did Oprah Winfrey Steal this Trademark?
Author, speaker, coach, and radio show personality Simone Kelly-Brown has sued television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey over the trademark Own Your Power. Kelly-Brown has had the mark Own Your Power registered
Read More »DJ Paulie vs. DJ Pauly D
Long time disc jockey DJ Paulie has sued Jersey Shore star DJ Pauly D for trademark infringement. Also caught up in the lawsuit is the Palms where defendant DJ Pauly D is a
Read More »Geek Trademark Infringement: Best Buy vs. Newegg
Back before anyone could remember, a “geek” was a carnival performer who entertained and disgusted his audience with morbid and gross stunts. Today, the carnival stunts are left to modern day performers such has
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