Category Archives: Trademarks
Are “Disparaging’ Trademarks Allowed?
The Lanham Act is a federal statute that governs trademarks, service marks and other forms of unfair competition. Section 2(a) of the act forbids the registration of trademarks that are deemed to be ‘disparaging’. While that would seem to answer the question, recently that provision has come under fire for constitutional reasons. Late last… Read More »
Hashtags Can Qualify for Trademark Protection
The Wall Street Journal recently posted a story about how companies are increasingly seeking trademark protection for hashtags. Hashtags are used on the internet, particularly social media, as a method of communication and information sorting. On some sites, such as Twitter, a hashtag is clickable and will sort all messages pertaining to a certain… Read More »
Fashion Designs: How To Protect Your Intellectual Property
Fashion is a multibillion dollar industry in Florida. By some economic estimates, 10 percent of the industry is made up of knock-off products. Many of these knock off fashion products are illegal. Fashion designers work hard creating unique ideas to bring new looks into the industry. It is only right that people are able… Read More »
Is Someone Infringing on Your Trademark?
When you started your business, you likely put time and energy into carefully designing your logo and brand. You then went through the process to trademark your brand set out by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) so that no one else could use it or try to copy it. One day,… Read More »
Federal Circuit May Allow Offensive Trademarks
A usually obscure trademark law doctrine has been in the news more and more over the past few months. 15 U.S.C. 1052(a) forbids the federal registration of a trademark, if that mark would disparage or offend certain groups of people. It was this section of the Lanham Act that recently resulted in the cancellation… Read More »
Copyright in the Social Media World
People often think of copyright as a tool reserved for artists and writers, as something that only protects books or music or movies. However, the reality is that copyright protection applies to much more than that. According to the statute, copyright law protects “original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.”… Read More »
When You Need Another Person’s Trademark: Fair Use in Trademark Law
Modern companies understand the importance of protecting their brand and reputation, and as such are often quick to dispatch a cease and desist letter as soon as they spot even a hint of potential trademark infringement. Consequently, many people are often hesitant to use someone else’s trademark, preferring to avoid the hassle of dealing… Read More »
Seeing Red: What the Fashion World Has Shown Us about Trademarks and Color
One of the most interesting things about trademark law is its flexibility. The law has adapted to provide trademark protection to a wide variety of objects from the mundane, like words or logos, to the unusual, like live animals. One commonly litigated non-traditional trademark is color. While the ability to trademark a combination of… Read More »
Is Trade Secret Protection Right for Your Business?
Modern businesses have begun to realize that some of their most important assets are completely intangible, things like business reputation or innovative ways of doing things. This has led more and more companies to begin seeking intellectual property protection for their ideas in order to gain an edge over their competitors. When people begin… Read More »
What Happens When a Trademark Goes too Far
Trademark law is usually concerned with protecting consumers from fraud. The idea behind it is that each company should get its own logo and name so that consumers know who they are buying from. Yet, sometimes trademark law goes beyond this, and attempts to address other concerns. One area of trademark law where this… Read More »
