Protecting ‘Pig Sooie’ & Distinctive Sounds Through Trademark Earlier this summer, the University of Arkansas, home of the Razorbacks, secured trademark protection for its “Calling the Hogs” chant. Football and basketball fans may recognize the familiar “woo pig sooie!” cheer, which was granted trademark protection by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Registration Number...Read More

What Would Jesus Do – TTAB Decides Trademark Battle What Would Jesus Do – After a six-year legal battle, Tyler Perry has officially won the trademark rights to “What Would Jesus Do.” Kimberly Kearney, a reality TV star, originally registered the mark in 2007 intending to use it for a reality show of her own....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

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

The Trademark Registration Process Trademark Registration Process – How does one go about registering a trademark?  What are some of the requirements in order to obtain protection?  There are many steps and several issues to consider, but overall the process is not arcane or excessively complicated (unlike, for instance, the steps necessary to obtain a...Read More

When Terms are Merely Descriptive Part 2 Merely Descriptive Part 2 – Today we continue our discussion of certain interesting topics within the larger question of when certain terms are classified as merely descriptive.  The classification of a term as a descriptive mark carries with it the consequence that the mark receives no protection whatsoever unless secondary...Read More

Attorneys Fees Under the Lanham Act Attorneys Fees – Today we look at Aviva USA Corporation v. Vazirani, a case recently heard by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.  Interestingly, Arizona is located in the famous (or infamous) 9th Circuit of the United States, the largest circuit including areas as diverse as Alaska,...Read More

When are Terms Merely Descriptive? Part I We have previously discussed trademark issues with descriptive terms.  To recap, terms that are merely descriptive receive the least amount of trademark protection. A descriptive term, such as “Fish-Fry” – generally does not qualify for protection unless the term has acquired some form of secondary meaning in the perception of...Read More

Preliminary Injunctions for Trademark Infringement Preliminary Injunctions – When you accuse someone of infringing your valuable trademark, what actually happens?  In American Rena International Corp v. Sis-Joyce International the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling that very clearly articulated the standards for what is known as preliminary injunctions. Preliminary Injunctions, Generally...Read More