10 Trademarks Just in Time for Halloween

10 Trademarks Just in Time for Halloween

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While some folks might think trademarks can be a little scary, I know that they can also be a little fun. G&S: Processed cereal-based food to be used as a breakfast food, snack food or ingredient for making other foods.Serial (no pun intended) 85120586 and 85120583 G & S: Beer.Serial: 86110135Yes - a stumbling disheveled guy is your image for beer - why didn't this get rejected as merely descriptive? G & S: Books in the field of children's literature.Serial: 86271191Whenever I put my child to bed, I always like to talk about monsters too - keeps her quiet when I tell her how she will get eaten-up if she asks for a glass of water. G & S: Parlour games.Serial: 86222077What the heck is a Haint you ask?  Well I had to look it up too - God bless American entrepreneurship.http://www.haintinabox.com/ G&S: Magazines featuring women modeling in horror-themed pictorials for entertainment purposes.Serial: 86506372And Playboy decided to get out of the nudie business - perhaps...
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Trump’s Trademark Issues

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How long has Trump been planning this? Apparently Mr. Trump decided he liked the sound of "Make America Great Again" as  far back as 2012, when he first filed an application for the phrase with the Trademark Office (Serial 85783371).   However, in the application he seems to be  anticipating using it for a Political Action Committee, rather than for his own candidacy. The required list of services he listed were as follows: Political action committee services, namely, promoting public awareness of political issues. (IC 035) Fundraising in the field of politics. (CIC 036) However he was apparently not ready to use it back then, as he did not finalize the registration until earlier this year - about a month before he formally announced. Trademark Issue #1 Subsequently, on August 13th two new filings  (86724115 , 86724213) were made by him for the phrase and include an exhaustive list of such items as   Bumper stickers; decorative decals for vehicle windows; stickers; advertising signs of papers; advertising signs of cardboard; placards and banners...
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Ten Cute Cat Trademarks

Ten Cute Cat Trademarks

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Because cats make everything more entertaining.  (search using (03.01.04)[DD]  and  (2)[MD]).  A sample of 10 recent applications for cat related trademarks for your viewing pleasure. 1.  Content Kitty (such a peaceful face)   2.  Lethal Kitty (HiYA!!)   3.  Hello Kitty (one of many recently filed applications)   4. Butt Kitty (Ok -  this one creeps me out a little)   5. Knitted Kitty (this one is for "knitted underwear" -'nuff said -cool design)   6. Hipster Kitty (jeez - everyone knows cats prefer the chevron)   7. Creepy Kitty (with dog overlord)   8. Masked Kitty (what possible advantage would a cat have trying to pretend he's a dog?)   9. Anthropomorphic Kitty (why no shoes on the hands??)   10.  Plain old Cute Kitty (just because)   ...
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Color-only Trademarks

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What do UPS, Tiffany and Co., and Owens Corning have in common?  The mere sight of the color of their product (Pullman Brown, Robin's Egg Blue, and Pink) brings to mind who they are without ever having to place a logo or word on their products.   These marks demonstrate how real people shop for goods and services and how trademarks are about providing a potential consumer resources to identify the source of the goods and services they are purchasing - while preventing others from using those identifiers to create consumer confusion. Color Trademarks The leading case involving color as a trademark is  Qualitex Co. V. Jacobson Prods. Co. (514 U.S. 159, 161, 163, 115 S. Ct. 1300, 131 L.Ed. 2d 248 (1995)), which noted that a color can sometimes serve as a trademark by itself  “when that color has attained ‘secondary meaning’ and therefore identifies and distinguishes a particular brand (and thus indicates its ‘source’).”   The Court went on to provide that...
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I have a great idea for a tee-shirt!!!

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Tee-Shirt Trademarks I have a great idea for a tee-shirt - can I register it as a trademark??? Short answer - probably not.  The main issue with whether a slogan or word  operates as trademark is how it is used.   This is especially true of tee-shirts. If the mark / slogan is just printed on a shirt – no protection – the Trademark Office deems that as being “merely ornamental” (there is an exception when the mark is also used for other products or business name).  However if the mark / slogan is also used to identify the tee-shirt company, it may serve as a trademark and be registered (i.e. it is a “source identifier”) – the only caveat is that you would need to show it being used in that manner rather than just emblazoned on the front.  Showing the mark this way can be done be showing the phrase on things like the name of an online store, packaging, an inside-tag,...
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You Own Devices Act proposed

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You Own Devices Act Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX) recently reintroduced to committee H.R.862, You Own Devices Act (YODA), to amend title 17, United States Code.  If enacted, the bill will provide that the first sale doctrine applies to any computer program that enables a machine or other product to operate.  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr5586/text  Expect opposition to come from...
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Pied Piper’s Trademark Problems

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On a recent episode of HBO's new show Silicon Valley, the hapless coders find themselves in a bind when they realize that the "placeholder" company name "Pied Piper, Inc." was already in use by Pied Piper Irrigation, another California company. The problem is that they received a check from a venture capitalist in the name of the Pied Piper Inc. - humorous situations then ensue as the protagonist tries solve the problem - and then, I began ranting at the television to the chagrin of my wife. Why, you might ask, does this drive me crazy? Not because it is a common and overused plot point, but more notable because it gets both state registration laws and trademark laws completely wrong by muddling the laws of business registrations and trademarks. Someone already registered my business' trade name - what do I? A trade name is the name used to identify the business. States have varying restrictions on...
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The Vivian Maier Dilemma

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Vivian Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was a nanny living in Chicago and New York during the 50's and 60's.  She was also a photographer whose work involved sizable numbers of photos taken of street scenes.  She was not publicly recognized as an artist until after her death and upon the discovery/purchase of her storage locker which contained over 150,000 unprinted negative, hundreds of rolls of un-developed rolls, along with a few thousand that had  been printed (leaving open the question of what she wanted produced).  Subsequently, the negatives were acquired by a handful of entrepreneurs, and select works are now being exhibited and sold as prints.  What is left out of this story is that she died largely without funds of her own, and that she died without any heirs.   The storage locker was sold because no one paid the storage fees.  So who owns the copyright in these photos? Vivian died in Illinois a couple...
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Authors Guild v. Google

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After eight years of a trail and the appeals process, on Nov. 14, 2013, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, Denny Chin, dismissed a suit by the Author's Guild against Google for its’ digital scanning project where they began scanning millions of books and making snippets (not full books) available in its search results. His full opinion can be read here. The Author’s Guild has filed an appeal. The Author's Guild claim is that this scanning alone violates those authors’ copyright. Google's defense -- the one that Judge Chin agreed with -- was that it fell within the scope of Fair Use. Chin says in his opinion that, "...Google Books provide significant public benefits." Section 107 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code determines the nature of Fair Use. Fair Use allows for the use of copyrighted material for a variety of purposes -- education, criticism, research, etc. The most relevant portion of the criterion to be met in this case was...
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Garcia v. Google, Inc.

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Garcia v. Google, Inc. “While answering a casting call for a low-budget amateur film doesn’t often lead to stardom, it also rarely turns an aspiring actress into the subject of a fatwa.” is the mild understatement of the Appeals court decision in Garcia v. Google, a case rooted in the anti-Islamic “film” that sparked riots in the middle east a few years back. Ms. Garcia was one of the unfortunate soles who was originally hired to act in what seemed like a vanity project of Mark Basseley Youssef. The film project was originally entitled “Desert Warrior” and while it is not clear what it was originally about, what is known is that the footage was reedited and dubbed over with new dialogue. The resulting project was entitled “Innocence of Muslims,” and the reaction to it is thought to have resulted in over 50 deaths. Following the riots and subsequent calls for her death, Ms. Garcia filed eight DMCA...
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