Aereo Inc Copyright Loss Leaves Much in the Clouds Aereo Inc’s Copyright Loss Leaves Much in the Clouds – The Supreme Court recently held that Aereo, Inc., infringed on copyrights belonging to cable broadcasters, producers, distributors, and marketers with its online cable streaming service. See opinion here. As part of its service, Aereo provides each...Read More

Contributory Cybersquatting Contributory Cybersquatting – Does the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) provide a basis of liability for a domain name registration service if one of its registrants is guilty of cybersquatting?  The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s opinion that the ACPA does not provide for so-called...Read More

Charbucks – Trademark Dilution ? Trademark Dilution – Is the use of the term “Charbucks” by a coffee company trademark dilution of the famous “Starbucks” coffee mark? The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York said that the use of “Charbucks Blend” and “Mister Charbucks” marks by Black Bear (a coffee...Read More

WIPO / ICANN Adjudication for Domain Name Disputes WIPO / ICANN Adjudication – After a great deal of hue and cry, the US government asked the World IP Organization (WIPO) to come up with a way to regulate internet domain name disputes. After much debate, the idea of a non-profit corporation with a mandate to...Read More

International Trademark Protection – The Madrid Protocol The Madrid Protocol – There are multiple ways to protect your brand overseas, but the most commonly referenced method is the Madrid Protocol.  The United States is a signatory to the Madrid Protocol, an international treaty that covers the mutual recognition of trademarks by its various member nations.  In...Read More

Trademark Abandonment Trademark Abandonment – Under  section 45 of the Lanham Act a mark will be abandoned under certain circumstances: (1) When its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use. There are two parts to this element.  “Intent” may be an actual statement, or implied by circumstances.  What continues a discontinuation...Read More

Trade Dress – Whiskey Bottle Showdown David Versus Goliath in Whiskey Bottle Showdown Trade Dress Showdown – One of the iconic, uniquely American products out there is Tennessee Whiskey.  With rugged, outlaw roots stemming from the days of moonshining and prohibition but now accepted the world over as a highly sought after beverage, even the...Read More

The Trademark Registration Process Part 3 Trademark Registration Process Part 3 – In Trademark Registration Part 2 of the trademark registration process we looked at the process for obtaining Federal registration of a mark.  Today, in tademark registration process part 3, we conclude with some miscellaneous, but still important, issues in the trademark registration process....Read More

Can Government Entity Trademark Insignia? Government Entity Trademark Their Insignia? – Today we look at an interesting case, In Re City of Houston, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  This case consolidated two cases, one brought by the city of Houston, Texas, and the other by the government of the District of...Read More

Registration Process for Trademark Part 2 Registration Process – Part 2 – Once the use in commerce (or intent to use) requirement is satisfied by the aspiring trademark registrant, the next step is to file an application for Federal registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO” or “Trademark Office”).  The use requirement...Read More