Supreme Court: Disparaging Trademarks Are Entitled to Registration Under First Amendment We previously reported a decision of the Trademark Trial … Continue reading Supreme Court: Disparaging Trademarks Are Entitled to Registration Under First Amendment
Category: Trademark
AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 4 of 4)
As iron sharpens iron, using overlapping layers of intellectual property protection can also be used to mutually strengthen existing forms of protection, and even build new rights. Here again, the TIE FIGHTER® provides a useful illustration. The U.S. PTO database shows that this three-dimensional TIE FIGHTER® registration shown above was issued under Section 2(F) of the Trademark Act. In general, trademarks must be d
AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 3 of 4)
One of the hallmarks of the STAR WARS® brand’s intellectual property portfolio is the creative use of overlapping layers of protection. As illustrated by the figure below, patents, copyrights and trademarks are not necessarily separate and distinct forms of intellectual property as many mistakenly suppose. For example, the same computer source code may be eligible for both copyright protection (vis-à-vis the expressi
AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 2 of 4)
By way of example, a quick search of the U.S. PTO’s Trademark Electronic Search Database reveals 97 live trademark registrations or pending applications containing the phrase “STAR WARS”. Moreover, the brand has further protected itself and diversified its licensing catalogue by securing trademark rights over many of the character names from throughout the STAR WARS® universe such as LUKE SKYWALKER® (Reg. No. 2454916
AN INTERGALACTIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MINEFIELD: THE STAR WARS® BRAND (Part 1 of 4)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … the STAR WARS® brand became one of the most iconic and lucrative licensing franchises of all time. In negotiating during the creation of the first STAR WARS® movie, George Lucas took an impressive gamble on himself and the brand he was creating -opting for the rights to all sequels and future merchandise in exchange for less money upfront as the director. With an estimate
How’s the “TRUMP” Brand Doing Donald?
What do Brittany Spears, Tiger Woods and Samsung all have in common? They all, through self-infliction, have caused tremendous damage to their brand. While its normal (and often unavoidable) for the brand of a celebrity or a company to lose value over time, causing self-inflicted damage to your brand during its heyday can be catastrophic and cost millions. Worse still, any attempt to reverse the damage – once done –
Capri Sun®, Shape-Trademarks and Patent Expiration
Previously, we wrote about the ongoing legal battle between Deutsche SiSi-Werke Betriebs GmbH, owners of the CAPRI SUN® brand, and Faribault Foods over Faribault’s laminated fruit juice pouches. In particular, we wrote about how SiSi-Werke’s registration for its laminated pouch trademark had become incontestable, and what impact such incontestability would have on Faribault’s ability to argue that the CAPRI SUN® bran
Potential Dispute Brewing Between BMW and Google Regarding “ALPHABET” Trademark
As reported by The New York Times, Google recently announced “Alphabet” as the name of its new holding company that will own the Google search business and several smaller holdings. Apparently unbeknownst to Google, however, German automaker BMW uses the “ALPHABET” trademark, as well as the alphabet.com domain name, in relation to services that it provides to corporations with vehicle fleets.
CAPRI SUN®: A Case Study in Marketing and Trade Dress Registrations
Sold in over 100 countries, CAPRI SUN® brand fruit juice beverages are popular the world over. Since the mid-1980s, Deutsche SiSi-Werke Betriebs GmbH-the brand’s German-based parent company-has maintained a trade dress registration for the design of the brand’s well known flexible laminated pouches. (See U.S. Reg. No. 1418517).
Cecil the Lion (Beanie Baby) “Dead in his Tracks?”
With great fanfare, Beanie Baby® toy manufacturer Ty Inc. has announced the creation of a “Cecil the Lion” Beanie Baby® – purportedly to raise funds for animal conservation efforts.
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