Trademark

May 29, 2008

Key Cases Pending Regarding Trademark Law and Internet Advertising

Internet advertising through programs such as Google's “AdWords” and “AdSense” has given rise to new issues relating to the application of traditional trademark law. AdWords -- better known as “keyword” advertising -- allows advertisers to purchase or bid on certain “keywords.” When a user searches for those words, links to the advertiser's websites appear in the “Sponsored Links” section of...

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August 02, 2006

Can A University’s Color Scheme Be Trademarked?

A federal judge sitting in the Eastern District of Louisiana answered this question “yes,” granting summary judgment of intentional trademark infringement for plaintiffs Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma University, and the University of Southern California against defendant Smack Apparel. The case is Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State Univ. et al. v. Smack Apparel Co., et al.,...

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July 13, 2006

Trademark Application Does Not Taste Quite Right

As new products enter the marketplace, their developers are always on the lookout for ways to distinguish these products from existing or anticipated competing products. In the case of pharmaceuticals, one way to make a product stand out from the others in a highly competitive field is to give the product a unique, pleasant taste. To give the unique features...

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June 19, 2006

Trademark Office Denies "Disparaging" Mark

As we have reported in the past, one function of the Trademark Office in reviewing applications for trademarks is to deny registration to marks that it deems consist of "immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter" in accordance with section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. In keeping with that function, past Blawg posts have discussed the affirmance of the Trademark Office's refusal...

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May 09, 2006

Court Gives Beatles No "Help" In Apple vs. Apple

A court in England decided this week to “Let it Be,” rejecting a suit by Apple Corps Ltd. against Apple Computer Inc. claiming that Apple Computer’s iPod product and iTunes service breach a settlement agreement entered into by the parties 15 years ago to resolve prior trademark litigation, thereby infringing Apple Corp's trademark. As we reported previously, in its original...

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April 05, 2006

Nyet To Russia On Stoli

What could be more Russian than Stoli vodka? Apparently, quite a few things. Concluding an unusual dispute over the “Stolichnaya” trademark, a U.S. District Judge in New York ruled that the trademark is the possession not of a company owned by the government of Russia, but of several distributors of Stoli vodka. Like a Tolstoy novel, this tale spans decades,...

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April 04, 2006

Keyword Disputes Cause Courts To Search For Answers

An issue that has been building on the horizon for some time – the use of competitors’ names as keywords to trigger sponsored links on search engines – is starting to percolate through the courts, with conflicting results. As more cases reach trial or adjudication, we’re eager to see whether courts will entertain novel theories of trademark infringement based on...

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March 16, 2006

Let Freedom Fries Ring

What started as a protest against France for its refusal to participate in the invasion of Iraq has independent commercial value, at least according to one entrepreneurial company. Sensing an opportunity to capitalize on a burst of patriotic fever in the U.S., a Canadian company (which involves at least a little irony) has applied to register FREEDOM FRIES as a...

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January 13, 2006

Dark-Roasted Charbucks Grinds Starbucks Trademark Claims To A Halt

A New Hampshire coffee roaster has prevailed in a trademark infringement case brought by Starbucks, where Starbucks alleged that the Black Bear Micro Roastery’s “Charbucks” dark coffee constituted trademark infringement, unfair competition and dilution of the Starbucks trademark. Last month a district judge in New York concluded that Starbucks was not harmed by the family-owned business’s sale of its dark...

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January 12, 2006

More on Geographical Indications: Some Cheese With Your Wine?

As previously reported, the United States and the European Union signed an interim agreement regarding the acceptance of each other's wine making practices as well as the recognition of each other's geographical indications for wine. As a follow-up to that interim agreement, it appears the EU has now agreed to simplify its registration procedures for foreign agricultural products after a...

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