TCAM Today

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Posts by TCAM Today


Brand Visibility via Commercial Co-Venture Agreements

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We’re seeing a lot of commercial co-ventures (CCVs) lately.  It makes sense, right?  CCVs can be a win-win for all parties involved – a company informs the public that it will donate a portion of its sales revenue to a nonprofit organization and, in return, the nonprofit allows the company to use the nonprofit’s brand name to market the product or service.  (For example:  “For every bottle of honey purchased in November 2018, Good Intentions Stores will donate 25 cents to the Fictional National Honeybee Preservation Society.”)  Such collaborations can increase the company’s sales and goodwill, and the nonprofit benefits from donations.

Continue reading “Brand Visibility via Commercial Co-Venture Agreements”

How Much Use Equals “Use”? Decoding Common Specimen Refusals issued by the USPTO

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Filing a trademark example of use in the USA?  You think, piece of cake.  At this point you have jumped through the application hoops, chosen and narrowed your classes of goods and services appropriately and are ready to get the coveted “circle R.”  You jump on your website, see the mark clearly used on the first page, hit “print,” and send it to the USPTO.

Except…

Wait, how can use not be considered “use”?  As it turns out, simply displaying a mark is often not enough.  Below are some tips for decoding three common specimen rejections issued by the USPTO and finding a suitable example of use. Continue reading “How Much Use Equals “Use”? Decoding Common Specimen Refusals issued by the USPTO”

Lee v. Tam: January 18 Panel Discussion on Supreme Court Oral Argument

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On January 18, the Supreme Court will conduct oral argument in Lee v. Tam, a much-discussed case presenting a First Amendment challenge to the disparagement provision of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act.  The Supreme Court is reviewing a Federal Circuit en banc decision that the disparagement provision is unconstitutional.  Later that day, the American University College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) will be hosting and webcasting a live panel discussion of the Supreme Court argument.

Drinker Biddle partner Jesse Witten will participate in the panel, along with other attorneys for the parties and amici.  Mr. Witten filed an amicus brief on behalf of Amanda Blackhorse and other Native American individuals who have sought cancellation of the trademark registrations of the Washington NFL team.

You are invited to attend the panel discussion or to watch the event live by webinar.  The discussion will occur from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., Eastern, on January 18 at 4300 Nebraska Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., followed by a reception.  For more information, please visit the PIJIP website: http://www.pijip.org/tam/

Brexit & Your Trade Marks – Some Practical Questions Answered (Guest Post from UK Firm HGF)

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We found this update from the UK firm HGF ( www.hgf.com ) helpful, and thought you might, too — so we asked permission to re-post it here.  Enjoy!  P.S. Since we’re lawyers, we have to mention that HGF is not affiliated with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, and the views expressed in this post are those of HGF, and not those of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP or its clients.– DBRanding® Blog Editors

You will no doubt have received many updates from IP law firms discussing the potentially new landscape for IP rights in the UK and EU in the longer term. Some are long, some short, some academic, but maybe not all practical.

The following briefing answers some of the more practical questions and concerns around managing your trade mark portfolio in light of Brexit. With change comes opportunity, and we at HGF are here to help you maximise that opportunity. We do not claim to know all that will transpire in the next few years come Brexit, no one does, but we hope these initial practical pointers below will help you along the way.

As a European firm of intellectual property specialists with locations in both the UK and mainland Europe, HGF will continue to offer a fully integrated team of professionals in the EU covering not only trade marks, but patents, designs, contentious and non-contentious IP law. Continue reading “Brexit & Your Trade Marks – Some Practical Questions Answered (Guest Post from UK Firm HGF)”

INTA 2016 Trends: A Bigger Platform and A Changing Role for Trademark Lawyers

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More than 10,000 trademark attorneys from around the world celebrated the annual meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA) this week by descending on Orlando like a flock of migrating birds.

It is quite literally the largest gathering of IP lawyers to be found anywhere, and for more than a century this meeting has served as a remarkable assemblage of thought leaders, talented practitioners, and representatives from the biggest and most important companies on the planet. After several days of meetings where we network and discuss the‎ hottest topics in branding, we have all come away with deep thoughts about where the law and practice of trademarks is heading in the years to come.

This year, some key trends we identified from the front lines provide a glimpse of a new path for trademark law, brand managers and trademark lawyers:

Continue reading “INTA 2016 Trends: A Bigger Platform and A Changing Role for Trademark Lawyers”