Filing a trademark application with the USPTO for a descriptive trademark does not provide enforceable trademark rights until secondary meaning can be established, after which the trademark can be registered on the principal register from the supplemental register. The trademark owner learned the drawbacks of choosing a descriptive trademark when…
An intellectual property lawsuit was filed on January 30, 2008 in Los Angeles Federal District Court, by Paige Premium Denim against Mervyn’s department store over the sale of allegedly infringing jeans which incorporated the plaintiff’s designs. Plaintiff was founded by Paige Adams-Geller, a former Miss California and a jeans industry…
WIPO domain name arbitration under the UDRP provides a thorough analysis of a domain name registrant’s rights and those of trademark owners. In HSBC Finance Corporation v. Clear Blue Sky, Inc., Case No. D2007-0062, Complainant HSBC had registered the trademarks CREDITKEEPER and CREDIT KEEPER (plus design) with the USPTO on…
In my previous post, I discussed the Patriot’s trademark application filing for “19-0 The Perfect Season,” and the New York Post’s retaliatory, and possibly clairvoyant, “18-1” trademark application. I was interviewed by New York Post reporter, Charles Bennet, regarding the trademark issues surrounding the now more relevant “18-1” trademark and…
Palantir.net began using the “palantir” trademark in 1996 for providing website design and development services nationally and registered the domain name in 1997. Palantir.net also filed a trademark application in 2002 with the USPTO, which registration issued in 2006. In early 2007, Palantir.net discovered Palantir Technologies, Inc. (“PTI”) was using…
Former World Wrestling Entertainment (“WWE”) wrestler the “Ultimate Warrior” (he has legally changed his name to Warrior) filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against video game maker THQ, Inc. for infringing on Warrior’s USPTO registered trademarks, service marks and common law trademarks. Warrior has registered trademarks and service marks for “Ultimate…
Defendant Palliser Furniture’s manufacture and sale of a theater chair under the trademark “The Eastwood” did not make the Dirty Harry star’s day and a trademark infringement suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, California. The trademark lawsuit probably didn’t make the Canadian defendant’s day either,…
Patents, trademarks and copyrights and counterfeiting will be at the forefront at the WIPO’s Fourth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy that meets in Dubai from February 3-5, 2008. The meeting is to focus on the following key themes: Health and Safety Risks Counterfeit Products Pose to Consumers; Raising…
Every year as the Super Bowl approaches, the National Football League begins to use trademark law and copyright law to enforce its trademarks for the words “Super Bowl” and its copyrights of the broadcast. In years past, the NFL has prevented hotels from using its trademark “Super Bowl” in association…
A trademark, antitrust and unfair completion lawsuit was filed in Las Vegas, Nevada on behalf of plaintiff Nights at Vegas, Inc., a Las Vegas based real-estate property-management company. The Defendants are the ubiquitous Donald Trump, the star of television reality show The Apprentice, and several companies that include …you guessed…