A Board Certified Patent Attorney
Archive for the ‘Trademarks’ Category
Reader Question: Will my trademark application be denied if…
"Suzy" asks: If I look on uspto.gov and see that there is a company already trademarked under a name similiar to my company’s name will my trademarked registration be denied? My response: Not necessarily. Just because someone else has trademarked a name similar to yours does not always hurt your chances for getting […]
The Trademark Checklist: 7 Steps You Must Take Before Filing
Not a day goes by that I don’t get a call from a distressed business owner who – after using one of those ‘trademark filing’ services online – contacts me because their trademark got rejected. And it always brings to mind the origin story of the lucky horseshoe. Legend has it a blacksmith (who later […]
7 Reasons Why Trademarks Protect You
If you are in business, and are successful and profitable, your business name should be registered. Why? It prevents others from using it to do the same type of business, represent their businesses as yours, steal your customers and ruin your business reputation. Without it, you have a big liability, almost as if you are […]
Trademark on Your Logo Already? Maybe not…
The owner of a Federally registered trademark is presumed to be the exclusive owner of the mark for the goods and services. So, if a word or phrase is already trademarked, does that mean you can’t use it? Most people think yes. But there is a little loophole in trademark law that allows you to use […]
Trademark infringement: Do you fight back or pick a new name?
The threat of trademark infringement doesn’t necessarily have to shut down your business or bury you under legal bills. If you do not have much invested in the name, you may decide to just change your business name and pray you don’t get sued for past infringement damages. But if you get hit with a […]
How a Trademark Mistake Cost a Business Owner Five-Figures
Do you know how much money your business would lose if you were forced to shut your doors for a day? A week? A month? Well, if you are making the one trademark mistake I’m about to share with you, then you could be putting all of that income at risk. As a Florida trademark […]
Florida Restaurant Alleges Trademark Infringement
Florida restaurant, C.R. Chicks brought a trademark infringement lawsuit against a Michigan Restauranteur, causing the Michigan proprietor to give up his restaurants’ name, C.R. Smokin Chicks, and go back to the drawing board in his efforts to name his restaurant, according to an article in The Detroit News. Ironically, this is only one of several names Gary Baja […]
Copyright and Trademark Infringement Not Too Sweet
CNN reports that International Medial Films, Inc. accused New York filmmaker Andrei Treivas Bregman of trademark and copyright infringement for pornographic films he made under his business name, Michael Lucas. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the sales of the movies, "Michael Lucas’ La Dolce Vita" Parts 1 and 2, and to collect unspecified damages. Bregman, […]
Trademark Infringement Fries KFC Franchise to a Crisp
According to an article on Telegram.com, U.S. Marshals visited Kentucky Fried Chicken stores in Webster and Auburn for takeout of a completely different kind: They wanted to make sure all signs, merchandise, and manuals with the KFC corporate trademarks, logo, or design were removed from the premises and destroyed. David J. Chrisler and his wife, […]
Florida Trademark Application Deemed “Scandalous”
The Smoking Gun reports that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has rejected a Florida man’s trademark application for the term "Obama bin Laden," ruling that the conflation of the names of a U.S. Senator and the world’s leading terrorist was "scandalous" and erroneously suggested a connection between the politician and the mass murderer. […]
Trademark Dispute Over Pizza Turns into Federal Food Fight
The Gazette reports a trademark dispute between Ledo Pizza Inc. of Annapolis and the Marcos family of Prince George’s County. Ledo has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt against Thomas E. Marcos Sr., Thomas E. Marcos, Jr., and James L. Marcos, claiming the family illegally used the Ledo name and […]
Trademark Infringement Suit Makes Bull Lock Horns in South Florida
According to an article posted on BEVNET, a federal magistrate judge recently ruled that a South Florida company does not yet have the right to take the deposition of Dietrich Mateschitz, an Austrian marketing whiz behind the wildly successful energy drink, Red Bull. The trademark infringement dispute began when attorneys for Austrian energy drink Red […]
