Bud Light (which currently boasts a 1.23/5 rating on RateBeer.com) is known for being cheap; light on calories and flavor; and, according to their most recent spate of commercials, advertising, and packaging, having absolutely nothing to do with corn syrup. This is in contrast to its competitor MillerCoors, who it alleges uses corn syrup in both Miller Lite and Coors… read more
Fake trademark specimens have become a significant issue at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”). Over the past few years, the USPTO has had to deal with an increase in the number of fake specimens submitted with trademark applications, particularly those made by Chinese applicants. In the United States, trademark registration is use-based. An applicant must provide… read more
This past fall, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was the Netflix Original that everyone was talking about. This show reimagines the world of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (a popular show released in the 90’s) with a new, dark spin. In this version of the show, Sabrina must choose between joining the world of witchcraft that her family belongs to and… read more
On April 15, Malcolm L. Stewart, Assistant Solicitor General of the United States, in keeping with a centuries-old tradition, wore a morning coat to argue before the Supreme Court of the United States.[1] His role was to argue that the U.S.P.T.O. need not register the trademark of a skate brand called “FUCT.” Over the course of the oral argument, it… read more
Traditionally, the main purposes of trademark law are consequentialist by nature. They are to reduce consumer search costs and to create incentives for producers to invest in product quality. If the source of a good is unclear or confusing, then markets will function less efficiently because consumers will expend wasteful resources searching for goods of a particular quality and producers,… read more
On November 6, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (“GSUSA”) filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America (“BSA”) alleging, most notably, that BSA’s use of its SCOUTS and SCOUTING marks and derivatives thereof in connection with services offered to both boys and girls infringes GSUSA’s GIRLS SCOUTS marks. Both GSUSA and BSA offer leadership development… read more
On September 28, 2018, Judge Louis L. Stanton, U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against a café and gallery space previously known as MoMaCha. He ruled that the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is likely to succeed on the merits for its claims that the café infringed on its trademark name and… read more
Despite the growing pressure on corporations and organizations to strengthen legal protection of their corporate logos, their attempts to enlarge the utility of copyright law for this purpose have proven futile. Two recent decisions by the Copyright Office Review Board (“CORB”) are particularly illustrative. The first decision concerns the Union des Associations Européennes de Football’s (“UEFA”) “Starball” logo. Comprising a… read more
Simon Tam, “I’d be happy to send [Redskins or Daniel Snyder] some legal bills.” Simon Tam, the front man of a Portland based dance-rock band named “The Slants”, filed suit against the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) when the PTO refused to trademark their band’s name. Their trademark was rejected under section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the disparagement… read more
It is widely accepted in the United States that generic and descriptive terms cannot be trademarked. So what happens when a descriptive word from a foreign country makes its way to the U.S. and is trademarked by a U.S. company? Are the people from that country then barred from using that term to advertise their products in the U.S., even… read more