Trademark Infringement

Here’s What Happened: Cozy Comfort Co. manufactures and sells oversized hooded sweatshirts and blankets. Cozy Comfort has a design patent (see graphic). Cozy Comfort uses “THE COMFY” as a trademark for its products. Top Brand LLC also sells oversized hooded sweatshirts and blankets and uses the trademark “COMFY”. Cozy Comfort accused Top Brand of patent […]

Here’s What Happened: Dewberry Engineers Inc. (“D. Engineers”) is a real estate development company. Dewberry Group Inc. (“D. Group”) is a competitor of D. Engineers. D. Group provides services for rental properties. The properties are owned by separate corporate affiliates of D. Group. D. Group operated at a loss for most years and was only […]

Here’s What Happened: Fans of the movie Home Alone 2 may remember the prank Kevin pulled on the hotel staff that ended with the phrase, “Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal”. DT Fashions LLC registered the trademark in 2013. DT’s best-selling products included t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sweaters containing the phrase “Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal.” DT […]

Here’s What Happened: The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) owns the trademark LIBERTARIAN PARTY. The LNC licenses the use of the mark to recognized state affiliates, like the Libertarian Party of Michigan. In 2022, the leadership of the Libertarian Party of Michigan were in a leadership battle. Some of the officers didn’t like other officers who […]

Here’s What Happened: Alfwear Inc. sells outdoor clothing. In 1993, the company rebranded and started using the German word “kühl” meaning a cool temperature for its clothing line. Alfwear has used the trademark KÜHL ever since for its clothing and expanded related products like luggage, lip balm, mints, and posters. Alfwear also registered the word […]

In Brief: Using the same elements in a trademark doesn’t automatically create a likelihood of confusion. Here’s What Happened: Relish Labs and the Kroger Company create and deliver meal kits under the brand “Home Chef”. They registered the mark and several versions including fork and knife appearing within the outline of a house. Grubhub, the […]

In Brief:  The unauthorized copying of NFTs results in a judgment for false designation of origin and cybersquatting. Here’s What Happened: Bored Ape Yacht Club, also known as Bored Apes, Bored Ape or BAYC, is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The collection features profile pictures of cartoon apes that are generated by an algorithm. The […]

In Brief:  The use of a word for an expressive work is not trademark infringement. Here’s What Happened: Punchbowl Inc. is an online party and event planning service website, PUNCHBOWL, which creates invitations and greeting cards. AJ Press, LLC owns and operates PUNCHBOWL NEWS, a subscription-based online news publication that provides articles, podcasts, and videos […]

In Brief:   Hermes stopped an artist from using its Birkin bags in NFTs. Here’s What Happened: Hermès International and Hermès of Paris, Inc. sell luxury (i.e. expensive) Birkin handbags that range in price from $12,000 to $200,000. Around December 2021, Mason Rothschild created digital images of faux-fur-covered versions of the Birkin handbags that he titled […]