Spread Some LOVE . . . Or Not

authorship copyright originality trademark

Today, May 1, is Global Love Day.  To commemorate the day, we spotlight ”love,” specifically the trademark registrations and copyright applications for LOVE.  Registrant At World Properties, LLC, a real estate brokerage company based in Chicago, Illinois, registered two marks with the USPTO, one each stylized trademark and service mark for LOVE®.   The first …

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“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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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

cancellation ex parte proceeding trademark

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

copyright patent trademark

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

ethics trademark

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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