LLC Withdrawal and the Operating Agreement – The limited liability company (“LLC”) has become one of the most desired forms of a closely held business organization. As an unincorporated business entity, the LLC is favored because of its pass-through tax treatment as well as its maximum operating flexibility. However, an LLC also demands a well-written...Read More

SCOTUS Ruling In USPTO v. Booking.com Opens The Door For Generic Domain Owners To Register Their Trademark The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has believed that “generic.com” domain names were almost always generic and therefore not registrable under trademark law. However, the Supreme Court’s nearly unanimous decision in USPTO v. Booking.com (2020) 591 U.S....Read More

Trademark Ornamental Refusals – What to Consider Sometimes, the USPTO will issue eccentric and unusual refusals to a trademark application. One such refusal is called an ornamental refusal. If you receive a trademark ornamental refusals, it means your registration of your applied-for mark has been refused because your mark is essentially merely decorative. That is,...Read More

Pitfalls & Benefits of Owning a Supplemental Registration it you are an Online Retailer. Supplemental Registration – The United States has two trademark registers: the Principal Register and the Supplemental Register. Online retailers, most notably Amazon’s brand registry, have primarily given preference to the Principal Register. This is because registration on the Principal Register affords...Read More

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS AND FORCE MAJEURE With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is increasing disruption to supply chains for buyers and sellers of goods. From unpaid invoices to the inability to fulfill an order, your business may be dealing with issues that are increasingly becoming more common. It is...Read More

REJECTED CUSTOM GOODS & SELLER’S REMEDIES Rejected Order? In a time when you can sell or purchase products from virtually anywhere in the world, there are many potential problems you can run in to as a seller, especially when you produce customized products. For example, let’s say you’re a seller of custom goods. You don’t...Read More

Renewing Your Trademark-Excusable Non-Use Renewing Your Trademark – Even after you have successfully registered a mark with the US Patent and Trademark Office, you are not done in ensuring your mark stays registered and protected. Your trademark application must be renewed 5-6 years after your first registration in order to maintain that registration. You must...Read More

The ‘Deceptively Misdescriptiveness’ Rejection Deceptively Misdescriptiveness – There are many reasons your trademark application may be denied. One of the more unique reasons is something called “deceptively misdescriptiveness.” Your first question is probably “what does that even mean?” A mark is considered deceptively misdescriptive if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, or feature of...Read More

The Primarily Merely a Surname Rejection Primarily Merely a Surname – You’ve submitted a trademark application and after many months, you finally receive news from the USPTO—but it’s an Office Action. There are several reasons you may receive a rejection from the USPTO for a trademark application, the most popular one being a Section 2d—“likelihood...Read More

TV-Streaming Service Provider May Seek Compulsory Copyright Licenses TV-Streaming Service Provider May Seek Compulsory Copyright Licenses – In what may be considered a surprise decision, a federal judge ruled that online television streaming service, FilmOn Air X, may be treated as a cable company by allowing it the same compulsory copyright licenses that broadcast companies...Read More