IP & Technology Law Trends
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Dissecting the PIRATE PISS Decision: Why Beer and Rum Are Still Related Goods (in the TTAB's Opinion) and What Brand Owners Should Do Before Adopting a New Alcohol Brand
For years, the TTAB has affirmed refusals of similar marks covering food and beverage offerings—finding such goods and services to be related. This includes many TTAB decisions finding that alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are related (see the T...
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Christian Louboutin Claims Victory in EU Court Trademark Battle Over Its Iconic Red-Soled Shoes
On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, the European Union's (EU) highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the CJEU) (La Cour de justice de l'Union européenne), held that French designer Christian Louboutin's mark consisting of a color applied t...
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Replacement Parts Manufacturer Gets Burned: Music City Metals Co., Inc. v. Jingchang Cai
Music City Metals (MCM) built a thriving business designing and selling replacement parts for name-brand BBQ grills. Too good, it turns out, as a number of foreign competitors also jumped into the game, copying MCM’s own replacement parts and selling...
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Federal Circuit Strikes Down the Lanham Act's Ban on Scandalous and Immoral Marks in the Wake of Tam
In the wake of Matal v. Tam, where the Supremes unanimously held that the "disparagement clause" in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court o...
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Alicia Bell Published in Modern Restaurant Management: Protecting Your Restaurant’s Intellectual Property Is More Important Than You Think
As the restaurant industry grows, and as customers pay more attention to local and artisan foods and celebrity chefs, there’s an increased interest in protecting recipes, signature dishes, and restaurant brands as intellectual property. In an article...
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Portland Band The Slants Singing a Happy Tune After the Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That the Disparagement Clause Violates the First Amendment
Background
Yesterday, six months after hearing oral argument (and nearly six years after Simon Tam filed his trademark application for "THE SLANTS"), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's en b...
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