Trademarkology
Brands, Trademarks, and Registration
The Fight Over the "Golden Knights"
Since becoming a Nashvillian a little over a year ago, I've fallen in love with a new sport: hockey. Hockey fever is infectious and its contraction was almost unavoidable as the Nashville Predators made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final for the 2016-2017 season.
Good Intentions
We are two weeks into 2018. Have you kept your new year's resolutions so far? If you are like me, you have good intentions, but that may be all you have.If one of your intentions...
Hurray! The Path Is Now Clear for the Registration of Vulgar Trademarks!
Many Trademarkology readers will recall that the Supreme Court in June 2017 held that the Patent and Trademark Office could not legally refuse registration of a mark on the ground that it was disparaging. As...
Issue Preclusion and Likelihood of Confusion
Less than three years ago, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 1293 (2015), holding that so long as other ordinary elements of...
Prescriptions for Pharmaceutical Marks
Some types of applications have a more difficult time than others proceeding to registration before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the "PTO"). Sometimes the nature of a mark (such as product packaging) requires...
Going Bananas for Halloween - Costume Wars
Are you a Halloweenie? If you are, you value all things Halloween on this spooky day filled with tricks, treats, and⦠you guessed it â costumes. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will spend...
Phantasmarkgoria
In the spirit of Halloween, this post will be about the ghostly subject of phantom marks.Generally, a trademark application filed in the United States may seek registration of only one mark. This is not always...
Nike Plays Defense Against Gronkowski
In April 2016, Gronk Nation LLC filed two applications for registration of himself in silhouette form spiking a football. Gronk's "trademark move" is the Gronk spike, so it is no wonder that the logo he...