The media bombshell was dropped by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last week. In a widely reported announcement Harry and Meghan have unveiled their intention to step back from Royal life, embrace a new working model and have financial independence. What has also been reported, yet less widely, is the move by the Sussexes…

In the past few weeks, almost contemporaneously, two courts cases dealt with the scope of protection of the PDO “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena” and the PGI “Aceto Balsamico di Modena”. Both courts agreed that ACETO and BALSAMICO are generic and common terms which do not fall under the scope of protection of PDOs/PGIs, but…

“Reverse trademark confusion” infringement theory suffices for liability but does not support recovery of infringer’s profits. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago has affirmed a Wisconsin federal jury’s verdict finding that defendant JFTCO, Inc. (“JFTCO”) infringed the registered FABICK trademark owned by plaintiff Fabick, Inc. (“FI”). The court also affirmed two district court rulings…

There was no evidence that the firm’s marks achieved secondary meaning, and the same marks were being used as trademarks as well as service marks in the advertising space. Plaintiffs and Appellants Engage Healthcare Communications, L.L.C., Greenhill Healthcare Communications, L.L.C. and Center of Excellence Media, L.L.C. (“Engage”) lost their appeal of an order granting summary…

The attorney was unable to show that the USPTO’s decision was arbitrary or capricious. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision to dismiss an attorney’s challenge of his bar license suspension as the attorney’s procedural and substantive challenges to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s disciplinary proceeding were rejected…

We had reported on the introduction in Greece of mandatory mediation in trademark infringement disputes in this blog here and here. Law no 4640/2019 “Mediation on civil and commercial disputes – Further harmonization of Greek legislation with Directive 2008/52/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 21 May 2008 and other provisions” (the…

Because the contract did not give a popcorn manufacturer a perpetual license to sell popcorn under the Mrs. Fields trademark, the manufacturer should not have been granted a preliminary injunction ordering Mrs. Fields to comply with the contract terms. A popcorn manufacturer did not establish a strong likelihood that it will prevail on its claim…

As we all know, the EUTM Regulation 2017/1001 now requires the applicant to indicate the goods and services for which the protection of the trademark is sought with sufficient clarity and precision to enable the competent authorities and economic operators, on that sole basis, to determine the extent of the protection sought. But what if…

The New York Oneidas lacked standing to challenge the Interior Department’s approval of the Wisconsin Oneidas’ request to change its name to “Oneida Nation,” despite the Wisconsin tribe’s initiation of USPTO trademark cancellation proceedings against the New York tribe. Following the initiation of trademark cancellation proceedings brought before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board by…