As you may have noticed from my earlier posts, I just can’t stop talking about chocolate. So it’s a good thing that there’s a healthy supply of chocolate-related trademark cases to talk about! Candy Bar Shape Trademark: No-Function Junction First up, you may remember my summary of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) hearing [...]
Several months ago, I blogged about an order allowing a trademark dispute concerning “Village People” marks to be appealed to the Federal Circuit. Here’s how the appeal turned out. Karen I. Willis v. Can’t Stop Productions, Inc., No. 2012-1109 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 13, 2012) (Judges Prost, Moore, and O’Malley) (per curiam) (nonprecedential) Karen Willis is [...]
Everyone knows the old adage, “Don’t mix business with pleasure.” But a slightly less well-known counterpart phrase is, “Don’t mix your self-owned business with your law firm.” It can lead to some hairy conflict-of-interest issues, like the ones this writ of mandamus petition to the Federal Circuit raised. In re Dell, Inc., No. 2012-m129 (Fed. [...]
“I could teach you how to speak my language, Rosetta Stone.” That seemed to be the dialogue between Google and Rosetta Stone last week. On Halloween, the parties settled their 3+-year litigation, which concerned whether Google’s AdWord™’s program infringed Rosetta Stones trademarks by allowing competitors to buy “Rosetta Stone” as a keyword and use the [...]
Miracle Tuesday needed a miracle to overcome the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) rejection of its trademark application. But the Federal Circuit didn’t grant its wish, this time. In re Miracle Tuesday, LLC, No. 2011-1373 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 4, 2012) (Chief Judge Rader, Circuit Judges Linn and O’Malley) This trademark appeal involves the wordiest [...]
The Federal Circuit recently took a stab at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) decision about SNAP trademarks for syringes, and told the TTAB that it had misdiagnosed the descriptiveness of the marks. Interestingly, the court didn’t just send the case back to the TTAB—it told the TTAB to cancel the marks. DuoProSS Meditech [...]
This case involves a patent infringement lawsuit, but this decision isn’t really about patent law. Legally, it’s about personal jurisdiction. But it’s also an interesting example of how appellate judges interpret sometimes-murky Supreme Court precedent. Personal jurisdiction gets into the thick of legal theory, folks, but I’ll guide you through it. AFTG-TG v. Nuvoton Technology [...]
Welcome to the first installment of our new vlog, “I See IP,” where we’ll highlight IP issues in real life. This episode features the IP issues getting physical. Hope you enjoy it!
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Nos. 2012-1062, 1103, 1104 (Aug. 3, 2011) (Chief Judge Rader, Circuit Judges Dyk and Moore) Litigation surrounding enoxaparin—a pharmaceutical drug used to prevent blood clots—has been raging for nearly a decade. In fact, this Federal Circuit opinion issued one day before the 9th anniversary of the date when [...]
In the fashion world, the word “trademark” tends to get tossed around casually. Style writers highlight a designer’s “trademark” use of patterns or “trademark” silhouette. But can these signature features actually be trademarks? In the case of a color trademark for soles of high heels, the question was hotly debated—so hot, it had the Second [...]
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