“Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself” as a Battle Cry? Yes. As a Registrable Mark? Probably Not

failure to function trademark

The world is currently seeing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and there has been one catchphrase which has seemingly captured the fighting ethos of the Ukrainian people: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” With that said, it was only a matter of time before this common phrase would wind its way as a trademark application …

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In U.S., Only Humans Can Be Inventors or Creators

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In the U.S., patents are issued to inventors and copyrights are registered to authors. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been gaining traction in automation of business processes, creating more efficient applications, and gathering of data analysis. However, as seen with the recent U.S. Copyright Office’s recent Copyright Review Board’s (CRB) decision demonstrates that under U.S. copyright …

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That Sucks! Otherwise Generic gTLD Still Non-Registrable Because Not Attached with Preceding Domain Name

1st amendment distinctiveness failure to function genericism trademark

On February 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in In re Vox Populi Registry Ltd.,[1] the decision of the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) refusing registration to .SUCKS as a service mark for Vox’s domain name registry services. However, the Fed Circuit agreed with the TTAB in that …

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New Public Page for Trademark Non-Use Petitions

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On February 4, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office released a new public page showing new ex parte expungement or reexamination petitions for failure to use the challenged mark in commerce. Since its implementation on December 21, 2021, there have been 20 petitions for expungement and 10 petitions for reexamination filed on non-used …

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Senator Requests Study on Uniting Federal IP Offices Into Single Office

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U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has requested the Administrative Conference of the United States, the federal agency tasked with making federal functions more efficient, to conduct a study into the feasibility of having a unified, singular federal office devoted to intellectual property, combining the registration and prosecution functions currently handled by both the United States …

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USPTO Issues Sanctions Against Trademark Filing Entities (TFEs) for Fraudulent Filings

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On January 25, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued sanctions against a group of trademark filing entities (“TFEs”): Abtach, Ltd., 360 Digital Marketing LLC, and Retrocube LLC, including the officers – Azneem Bilwani, CEO, Salman Yousuf, COO, Muhammad Saad Iqbal, President of Abtach, and Irsa Faruqui, President of Retrocube (collectively “Abtach TFEs”).  …

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Comment Period on Patent Eligibility Extended

101 IP Practicum patent patent eligible subject matter

On September 2, 2021, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office extended the deadline for submission of comments regarding the state of patent eligibility and its effectiveness on U.S. investments and innovation.  The new date is October 15, 2021. The USPTO issued a notice on the Federal Register on July 9, 2021, requesting comments on patent …

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U.S. Patent No. 10,888,283 B1

COVID patent Tech Patents

U.S. Patent No. 10,888,283 B1 (‘283), issued on January 12, 2021, to applicants/inventors Boonsieng Benjauthrit, Sorapod B. Benjauthrit, Vatcharee L. Benjauthrit, and Kamolchanok J. Benjauthrit, all of La Cañada, California.  The claims are directed to an apparatus called a COVID-19 Symptoms Alert Machine (CSAM) scanning device comprising the scanner, temperature scanner, a patient-provided health information …

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