On My Mind Blog

Certification marks differ from trademarks and service marks, but they are protected against uses of identical or confusingly similar terms just like trademarks and service marks.

A pending lawsuit illustrates the importance of keeping your eyes open in selecting a new trademark, and also in monitoring applications by others to register identical or similar marks for competitive or related products, as well as looking for the use of such marks in the geographic areas of your existing sales or planned expansion.

In these turbulent times, brands are turning to cause marketing initiatives to assist charities. Before your company launches a campaign to help others, you should consider whether you are creating a legally regulated commercial co-venture (CCV).

A U.S. trademark application may be found to be void from the beginning if it is filed in the wrong name.

Many of us are looking for humor to divert our attention from Coronavirus cabin fever.

We are reminded of two cases in which animals—respectively a monkey and a cat—were held not to have ownership rights in intellectual property.  It is curious that these rights were seriously asserted in the first place, and that they were dealt with in a semi-serious manner in the second place.

If you have ceased to use—or never used—your trademark in U.S. commerce, your intention to resume or commence use could defeat a claim that your registration should be cancelled for abandonment of the mark.

A group of marks having a recognizable characteristic in common with each other may enjoy greater protection than each individual mark, depending on how the marks are promoted and when the rights are asserted.

What can you do to protect your goodwill if you unknowingly select an unfortunate brand name, or through no fault of your own, your brand name threatens to be tainted by an extraneous circumstance—like the coronavirus outbreak in 2020?

Influencer marketing may bring your brand viral attention, but the strategy also may expose you to legal risk. Now is the time to implement best practices for influencer marketing programs.

You normally should take affirmative steps to satisfy the requirements for filing an intent to use trademark application.