The doctrine of foreign equivalents represents one of the more nuanced areas of trademark law, sitting at the intersection of linguistic analysis, consumer perception, and legal precedent. This doctrine can make or break trademark applications containing foreign-language terms, making it essential for both practitioners and consumers alike to understand both its theoretical foundations and Federal …
Category: trademark
Understanding the False Suggestion Doctrine in Trademark Law
The false suggestion doctrine is a limitation on trademark registration, designed to protect the public from misleading associations with recognized entities or symbols. Overview Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act prohibits the registration of trademarks that “falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols.” This provision serves as a …
IP for Content Creators
In today’s digital economy, subscription-based content platforms like OnlyFans, JustforFans, Vimeo, Patreon, and YouTube have created unprecedented opportunities for creators to monetize their work directly to the consuming public. However, these opportunities come with complex intellectual property (IP) considerations that content creators must understand to protect their rights and avoid potential legal issues. Copyright Fundamentals …
Understanding Genericide of Color Marks
Color Marks: The Basics Color marks represent one of the more challenging types of non-traditional trademarks. Since the landmark Supreme Court decision in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., single colors can serve as trademarks when they identify the source of goods or services. However, obtaining trademark protection for a color presents unique hurdles: Last …
Heating Up: FIREBALL Not Generic
Understanding Trademark Genericism Trademark law exists to protect distinctive marks that identify the source of a particular good or service. However, when a trademark becomes so widely known that it no longer acts as a source identifier, but the mark primarily describes the product in which it is being used, it risks becoming “generic” and …
Note on the Useful Articles Doctrine in Copyright
Copyright law broadly protects creative works and the human endeavors required to create an original work of authorship. However, creativity should not be confused with utility. A dictionary definition for “creativity” is “ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new.” A definition for “utility” is “the quality or state of being useful.” A …
Understanding the Doctrines of Natural Expansion and Tacking
A recent Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case sheds light on two little-known trademark doctrines: the doctrine of natural expansion and the doctrine of tacking. Both can be useful arguments in an ex parte application. However, both require very specific sets of facts in order to apply them properly in a response. In …
Understanding Trademark Distinctiveness
The concept of distinctiveness is important under trademark law because it is one of the requirements for a federally registered mark. Distinctiveness goes to the strength of the mark. In theory, the more distinctive a mark, the more likely it is capable of identifying and distinguishing against all other sources of goods and services used …
Thoughts on Elster and the Names Clause
Eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court held in the Elster case that so-called Names Clause under Section 2(c) of the Lanham Act, the federal trademark law, prohibited the use of a living person’s name in a proposed mark without that person’s consent, we are still seeing many applications filed raising Section 2(c) issues. What …
USPTO Trademark Fees Increasing This Month
Although USPTO fees typically increase, for different matters, every two years, this year’s increases are sweeping. According to the USPTO, policy rationales for the fee increases included in the published final rule: These rationales appear in line with forcing application efficiency, with most of the burden being carried by the applicant. Five to ten years …