Except in a few cases*, a trademark will not be registered until the mark has been used. The Trademark Office won’t register a trademark unless the applicant provides proof of how the mark is used in commerce. This is a…
A trademark has acquired distinctiveness if it has become known in the industry after several years of use as designating the source of the goods or services on which it is used.
Most people, trademark attorneys included, use the word “trademark” to refer to any and all types of trademarks. However, there are actually four distinct categories of trademarks. The two main types are trademark and service marks. There are two other…
I posted an article a little while ago about the power of social networking in a pre-litigation scenario. Beernews.org put out an article about a cease-and-desist letter that Hansen, owner of the MONSTER trademark, sent small-town Rock Art Brewery, concerning…
Steve O’Donnell, over at 3C Patent Law, has a nice, quick description of how a trademark owner can lose its rights through dilution. I’ve excerpted some of it here, but read the whole post for a better explanation: Consider this…
A trademark can sometimes be rejected if it is ornamental. This most frequently occurs when the goods are clothing, as I have written before. If your mark is rejected on this basis, there are few escape paths. Secondary source may…
I would guess “no”, am I correct? You know what’s strange… the websites of both businesses were registered at the same time. You just don’t see that often. Maybe one was trying to imitate the other?
I would guess “no”, am I correct? You know what’s strange… the websites of both businesses were registered at the same time. You just don’t see that often. Maybe one was trying to imitate the other?