Trademark

Here’s What Happened: “Dupes” are products that look and work like a popular item. In the cosmetic industry, dupes can give consumers on a budget access to products that they might not otherwise be able to afford.  Benefit Cosmetics LLC sells mascara using the trademark “Roller Lash” that includes an applicator known as a “Hook […]

Here’s What Happened: In 2005, Productos Avicolas del Sur, Inc., (PAS) began selling breaded chicken. PAS used a composite trademark containing the words POLLO PICU combined with a cartoon chicken. Then PAS ran into financial trouble. PAS neglected to file declarations of continued use. So the USPTO cancelled the registration.  In 2011, PAS’s bank froze […]

Here’s What Happened: Gail Weiss was part of the Amazon Affiliate Store program. As an affiliate, she would review products on her website. If someone clicked on the product and completed the purchase on Amazon, Gail would get a commission. Gail doesn’t sell anything. Gail named her website GABBY’S TABLE. She filed an intent to […]

In Brief:  A trademark that is generally known to refer to the use of a controlled substance cannot be federally registered. Here’s What Happened:   Various versions of “4:20” is cannabis culture slang for the cocktail hour for marijuana and hashish consumption. Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level under the Controlled Substances Act, […]

In Brief:  The US Supreme Court held that, with some exceptions, US Trademark Law does not reach infringement outside the US. Here’s What Happened:   Hetronic International, Inc. manufactures remote controls for construction equipment that uses the combination of black and yellow colors. Hetronic sued Abitron Austria GmbH and five other companies for trademark infringement. […]

In Brief:  As January reaches the halfway point and New Years’ resolutions to work out weaken, a trademark case involving a fitness franchise seems appropriate. Here’s What Happened:   F-19 Holdings, LLC and F19 Franchising, LLC have used their “Fitness 19” mark for fitness services since 2002. F19 started franchising its gyms in about 2008. […]

In Brief:  There’s a limit to how many permutations of a word can avoid a likelihood of confusion. Here’s What Happened:   Belgravia Wood Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, owns numerous trademarks, many of which involve Christmas lights (e.g. “Radian Micro LED”, “Greenwood Pine” and “Crystal Pine”). Belgravia has not always been successful in […]

In Brief: When manufacturing stops, cancellation of a trademark is not far behind. Here’s What Happened:   Peavey Electronics Corporation manufactured a popular series of amplifiers from the 1970s to 2013 under the brand “CS”. Peavey shipped amplifier manufacturing to China and eventually dropped the CS brand from its catalogue. Domestic sales of CS amps […]

In Brief:  The U.S. Supreme Court held that dog toy parodies are not protected by the First Amendment. Here’s What Happened:   On June 30, 2020, this blog covered a decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals holding a squeaky dog toy called “Bad Spaniels” was protected by the First Amendment as a humorous […]