Tag: Trademark Prosecution

Helping “Insure” Your Success: When and How to Use “Insurance” Extension Requests for US Trademark Applications

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You might remember from our “How Much Use Equals ‘Use’?” post that the USPTO can be picky when it comes to accepting proof that a brand is in use (and, of course, when we say “use,” we mean that special kind of “trademark use” that the USPTO is looking for – i.e., use of a brand in connection with products or services offered in commerce).

Luckily, owners of trademark applications based on proposed use have some time to develop and submit proof of use.  After an initial 6-month period, a trademark owner may request up to five 6-month extensions before it has to file proof that its brand is in use (that’s a total of three years!).  Of course, while taking advantage of these extensions might be helpful in some cases, the faster a trademark owner can submit an acceptable example of use, the faster its application can proceed to registration.

Continue reading “Helping “Insure” Your Success: When and How to Use “Insurance” Extension Requests for US Trademark Applications”

Trademark Traps for the Unwary, Part 1: Black-and-White Registrations Abroad are a Gray Area

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US trademark aficionados know that US registrations depicting logos in black and white allow the trademark owner to display the registered mark in any color.  Filing in black and white is often a good way to achieve broader protection in the States, and it helps avoid your having to file a new application if you change the color of your logo in the future.  The next time you want to protect your logo outside the USA, however, pause before you send that email to local counsel or submit your Madrid Protocol application depicting the logo in black and white.  It’s not safe to assume that a black-and-white registration outside the USA confers “universal” protection for a mark displayed in any color.

To elaborate:  counsel in a number of jurisdictions have informed us that black-and-white registrations may not protect marks displayed in any color.  We’ve heard this from the EU, Kazakhstan, and Thailand, among other places – though you will of course want to check this with your own local counsel, since this is a fact-specific issue.  Worse yet, black-and-white registrations outside the USA may be subject to attack on non-use grounds if the trademark isn’t used in black and white.  (How often does that happen?!)

We haven’t run across a treatise or other resource that drills down to this level of trademark nerddom, so this might be a good topic to add to the next edition of the Country Guides (accessible to members of the International Trademark Association).  In the meantime – now you’re equipped to ask some more pre-filing questions, to help ensure that your future logo applications will achieve maximum protection.

The Dos and Don’ts of Letters of Protest

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We think letters of protest are so great that we wrote our very first blog post about them.

You might remember from Tore DeBella’s post that we often file letters of protest in an attempt to persuade the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to refuse registration of third-party trademark applications.  Such letters can help delay or even avoid having to file costly oppositions – if you follow the rules, that is.  Some highlights of the rules are as follows.

Continue reading “The Dos and Don’ts of Letters of Protest”

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/

A Second Chance for Supplemental Register Registrations: Debunking “Myths” about Re-Filing on the Principal Register

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You might remember from Tore DeBella’s post on deciding between Principal and Supplemental Register registration that the Principal Register is the place to be if you’re a trademark owner. But what if the best you could do was secure a Supplemental Register, or “second best,” kind of registration?

Don’t despair!

It might be possible to find your way to the Principal Register even if your mark initially landed on the Supplemental Register.  If a mark has acquired distinctiveness – or significance as a brand name – while on the Supplemental Register, it may become eligible for registration on the Principal Register.  We’ve noticed a few common misconceptions about this process.  Below, we do our best to debunk the “myths” we most often hear: Continue reading “A Second Chance for Supplemental Register Registrations: Debunking “Myths” about Re-Filing on the Principal Register”

Seven Strategies for Speedy Service Mark (and Trademark) Registration

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We really love registering service marks. Trademarks, too. (Mentioning service marks in the title of this post better served our alliterative inclinations.) What’s even more fun is finding new ways to register trademarks as quickly and cost-effectively as possible – which frees up time and money we can use to…register more trademarks.  Hooray!

In case you are of a similar mindset, here are some things to ponder while you work on a new US application.

Continue reading “Seven Strategies for Speedy Service Mark (and Trademark) Registration”

The “Principal” of the Matter: Deciding Between Principal and Supplemental Register Registration

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I’ll start this post by acknowledging the misleading title – rarely, if ever, does a federal trademark applicant independently decide to register its mark on the Supplemental Register in the United States.  Whereas registration on the Principal Register is the “gold standard” for federal trademark applicants, the Supplemental Register offers a “second best” kind of registration, which provides some, but not a full complement, of benefits.  Continue reading “The “Principal” of the Matter: Deciding Between Principal and Supplemental Register Registration”