IP & Technology Law Trends
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Update: Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death? Supreme Court May Resolve Circuit Split on Effect of Rejection of Trademark Licenses in Bankruptcy
In my September 11 blog post, Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death?, I noted that the First Circuit’s decision in Tempnology—that rejection of a trademark license in bankruptcy divested the nondebtor licensee of its right to use the trademark—was subjec...
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Federal Circuit’s Converse Ruling Provides Useful Secondary Meaning Guidelines
The Federal Circuit ruled on October 30 that the International Trade Commission had applied the wrong analysis in adjudicating plaintiff Converse’s trademark claims against Skechers and New Balance arising from the design of an athletic shoe. The hol...
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Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death? Supreme Court May Resolve Circuit Split on Effect of Rejection of Trademark Licenses in Bankruptcy
It might sound odd to the ears of an intellectual property lawyer, but trademarks are not intellectual property—as defined in Section 101(35A) of the Bankruptcy Code, anyway. The significance of the omission of trademarks from this definition is that...
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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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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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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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