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Features

Brexit and IP: Finally Some Real News, and What It Means for Attorneys Image

Brexit and IP: Finally Some Real News, and What It Means for Attorneys

Mark Holah

Much has been written about what will happen to EU-wide IP rights after Brexit — and whether, and how, the protection given by those rights will be maintained in the UK. Finally, we have some clarity about what is going to happen.

Features

Bankruptcy Impact on Trademarks, Distribution Rights Image

Bankruptcy Impact on Trademarks, Distribution Rights

Shmuel Vasser and Yehuda Goor

It's not uncommon for rights licensees in the entertainment industry to find themselves in a rights dispute when a licensor files for bankruptcy.

Features

The Ripple Effect of Rejecting Trademark Licenses Image

The Ripple Effect of Rejecting Trademark Licenses

Mark W. Page

<b><i>The First Circuit Widens the Controversy</b></i><p>In <i>In re Tempnology</i>, the First Circuit held that the debtor's rejection of a trademark license strips the nondebtor licensee of any right to continue to use the trademarks. In so doing, the court takes the same approach as the Fourth Circuit and rejects the approaches advocated by the Third and Seventh Circuits.

Features

Trademark Board's Precedential Ruling on Use in Commerce Image

Trademark Board's Precedential Ruling on Use in Commerce

Howard J. Shire & Jeremy S. Boczko

In a nearly 50-page precedential opinion in a ruling of great significance to the entertainment industry, a TTAB panel of judges recently underscored the need to prove actual use in commerce in order to register a trademark, regardless of how low the standard for use under the Lanham Act has recently become.

Features

Federal Circuit Holds Scandalous or Immoral Marks Entitled to Registration Image

Federal Circuit Holds Scandalous or Immoral Marks Entitled to Registration

Stacey C. Kalamaras

<b><i>Refusal Is an Unconstitutional Violation of Free Speech</b></i><p>On Dec. 15, 2017, a unanimous Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that despite Appellant's mark comprising “immoral or scandalous” matter, the PTO could no longer refuse federal registration of such marks on the grounds that this refusal violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Features

TTAB: Trademark Use Must be Proven Image

TTAB: Trademark Use Must be Proven

Howard J. Shire & Jeremy S. Boczko

<b><i>Board Says It Doesn't Matter Whether Use Is By a Trademark Owner Or a Third Party</b></i><p>In a nearly 50-page precedential opinion, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) panel of Judges Adlin, Heasely, and Lynch, underscored the need to prove actual use in commerce in order to register a trademark, regardless of how low the standard for use under the Lanham Act has recently become. <i>Tao Licensing, LLC, v. Bender Consulting d/b/a Asia Pacific Beverages.</i>

Features

The Case for Use of Accelerated Case Resolution in TTAB Proceedings Image

The Case for Use of Accelerated Case Resolution in TTAB Proceedings

Chris Bussert & Harris Henderson

This article outlines the available options under the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's ACR rules and discusses the strategic considerations in determining whether ACR might be advantageous, particularly in light of increasing pressure from clients to reduce costs and expedite the decision-making process.

Features

Decision of Note<br><i>Empire</i> TV Show Doesn't Infringe Hip-Hop Label Trademark Image

Decision of Note<br><i>Empire</i> TV Show Doesn't Infringe Hip-Hop Label Trademark

Stan Soocher

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that the Fox TV show <i>Empire</i> didn't violate federal Lanham Act or California trademark rights of the urban music record label Empire Distribution.

Columns & Departments

Bit Parts Image

Bit Parts

Stan Soocher

No Trademark Protection for <i>Dirty Dancing</i> Phrase Used in Financial Services Ad

Features

Protecting Product Packaging and Product Configuration Image

Protecting Product Packaging and Product Configuration

Marcus S. Harris

Registering and protecting product designs is challenging. Preliminarily, trade dress cannot be registered or protected as a trademark if it is functional — if it is “essential to the use or purpose of the article or it affects the cost or quality of the article.”

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