Tag Archives: West Palm Beach Trademark Lawyer
University of Houston Prevails in a Trademark Dispute
Last year, South Texas College of Law began a comprehensive rebranding effort. Officials from the law school voted to change its name and school colors. Beginning in June of 2016, South Texas was set to become the Houston College of Law and they would wear red and white. Fearing consumer confusion, the University of… Read More »
Federal Circuit May Allow Offensive Trademarks
A usually obscure trademark law doctrine has been in the news more and more over the past few months. 15 U.S.C. 1052(a) forbids the federal registration of a trademark, if that mark would disparage or offend certain groups of people. It was this section of the Lanham Act that recently resulted in the cancellation… Read More »
When You Need Another Person’s Trademark: Fair Use in Trademark Law
Modern companies understand the importance of protecting their brand and reputation, and as such are often quick to dispatch a cease and desist letter as soon as they spot even a hint of potential trademark infringement. Consequently, many people are often hesitant to use someone else’s trademark, preferring to avoid the hassle of dealing… Read More »
Seeing Red: What the Fashion World Has Shown Us about Trademarks and Color
One of the most interesting things about trademark law is its flexibility. The law has adapted to provide trademark protection to a wide variety of objects from the mundane, like words or logos, to the unusual, like live animals. One commonly litigated non-traditional trademark is color. While the ability to trademark a combination of… Read More »
Is Trade Secret Protection Right for Your Business?
Modern businesses have begun to realize that some of their most important assets are completely intangible, things like business reputation or innovative ways of doing things. This has led more and more companies to begin seeking intellectual property protection for their ideas in order to gain an edge over their competitors. When people begin… Read More »
What Happens When a Trademark Goes too Far
Trademark law is usually concerned with protecting consumers from fraud. The idea behind it is that each company should get its own logo and name so that consumers know who they are buying from. Yet, sometimes trademark law goes beyond this, and attempts to address other concerns. One area of trademark law where this… Read More »
Supreme Court Clarifies the Power of the Patent and Trademark Office
Although trademark law affects businesses every day, it has the reputation for being something of a niche area of law that many lawyers do not involve themselves with. Consequently, trademark issues rarely end up going before the U.S. Supreme Court. However, it happened twice this term. One of the cases, B&B Hardware v. Hargis… Read More »
Why Small Business Owners Should Care about Trademark Genericide
The law protects trademarks because they function as “source identifiers.” When a person sees a company logo on a product, they know which company is responsible for it. This allows consumers to easily find companies whose products they like, while avoiding those who sell inferior goods. Understanding this purpose of trademark law allows for… Read More »
The Supreme Court Deals with Tacky Trademarks
The U.S. Supreme Court is usually content to leave trademark law more or less untouched, relying on the lower courts to adjust the doctrine since it is something of a niche area of law. Yet, the Court has actually heard two trademarks cases this term. One, B&B Hardware v. Hargis Industries has yet to… Read More »
Likelihood of Confusion in Trademark Law
Trademark law is a complicated field with a variety doctrines and nuances, but the core goal of the law is to prevent consumers from being confused about what company is offering a product or service. That means that in order for a plaintiff to prevail on a trademark infringement claim, they need to show… Read More »
Potential Changes to Attorney’s Fees in Trademark Lawsuits
Each branch of intellectual property has its own statutes and rules, but every so often, decisions in one sphere can bleed over into another. Such a situation might be happening now with regard to a patent law decision that is making ripples in trademark cases. Last year, the United States Supreme Court decided the… Read More »
Functionality: The Line between Patents and Trademarks
Each category of intellectual property deals with a specific type of creation. Copyright protects artistic expression. Patents protect useful inventions and discoveries. Trademarks protect logos and other things that convey the source of commercial goods. The legislature specially tailored each of these classes of intellectual property to suit the type of creation that it… Read More »
