Rachel Kane, owner of WTForever21.com, recently received a cease-and-desist letter from clothing retailer Forever 21 . Apparently, the retailer is not amused by Kane's sartorial criticism and has accused her of engaging in "trademark infringement... Read More
Issued April 6, 2010, this opinion is the latest installment of the HAVANA CLUB saga. Here, Pernod Ricard USA brought a false advertising claim against Bacardi U.S.A., alleging that Bacardi's use of the HAVANA CLUB trademark on its rum bottle deceives... Read More
On April 7, 2008, the Court of Appeals for the 11 th Circuit addressed the use of a competitor’s trademarks in meta tags to divert internet traffic away from the trademark owner’s website as well as the standard for the issuance of a preliminary... Read More
Recently, the Seventh Circuit answered the following question in the negative: Is the Trademark Remedy Clarification Act (TRCA) a valid exercise of Congress's Fourteenth Amendment power to regulate state behavior? In Bd. of Regents of the Univ.... Read More
For intellectual property lawyers, the March announcement by Psystar Company that it had developed and planned to sell a fully functional clone of Apple, Inc.’s Macintosh computer was a lawsuit waiting to happen! So we waited. And waited. Well,... Read More
The Eighth Circuit recently determined that an infringement lawsuit involving the trademark, "Nature's Own," did not invoke an insurer's duty to defend under an "Advertiser Advantage" insurance policy. The policy excluded... Read More
Plaintiffs Seventh-day Adventists sued Walter McGill, a pastor, for trademark infringement based on McGill's use of their protected marks in advertising and promoting his breakaway church. McGill brought a motion to dismiss based on the Free Exercise... Read More
By: Donna Ray Berkelhammer Obtaining a federal or state trademark is merely the first step in protecting your brand and reputation. If you don't actively root out and address infringement, you could be abandoning your mark. Many people equate "... Read More
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : ... Read More
Fantastic Sams, a chain of hair salons, has filed suit against its competitor, Regis Corporation, accusing Regis of service mark infringement. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington, claims that Regis induced Fantastic Sams’... Read More
To ensure that courts give proper recognition to rights conferred by trademark registrations under U.S. law and follow precedent protecting trademarks that also have aesthetic attributes, the International Trademark Association (INTA) filed an amicus... Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. - ( Mealey's ) The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly rejected trademark counterclaims levied against Nike Inc. where a covenant not to sue entered into by the counterclaimant extinguished any justiciable controversy... Read More
Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. (Midwestern) applied for a trademark on its dog treat product, WAGGIN' STRIPS. The Societe des Produits Nestle S.A. (Nestle), which holds the trademark on a similar dog treat, BEGGIN' STRIPS, challenged the application... Read More
by Stan Hammer In its second published opinion vacating the judgment of the district court, the Fourth Circuit recently ordered that a jury's verdict awarding Georgia-Pacific nearly $800,000 in damages for trademark infringement be reinstated... Read More
The Ninth Circuit's recent interpretation of the Lanham Act's damages provisions surely surprised many trademark practitioners. It held that, when a plaintiff chooses to receive statutory damages in a counterfeiting case instead of opting for... Read More