If you want to establish a strong, protectable brand for your product, here’s an easy-to follow trademark tip: don’t use the word for an ingredient in the brand name. A recent case in the Federal Circuit, In re Trivita, Inc., illustrates this point.
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Archives: Trademarks
Can You Sue A Co-Owner of Your Trademark?
August 25, 2015
Trademark law is the best. Don’t believe it? Well, a recent Federal court case dealt with a dispute over the trademark GET THE LED OUT, a Led Zeppein tribute band. Strike that…according to the court documents, that should be “one of the greatest tribute bands in the history of the modern rock era”. The court notes that the band played live in Philadelphia and West Chester, Pennsylvania. The modern rock era is truly a thing to behold. (OK, that was an unfair slam. Their website clearly shows that they play all over the place, and I’ve seen Led Zeppelin tribute…
Geographic Trademarks: Does Amazon Own .amazon?
August 18, 2015
If you’re like me, your house and office are strewn with boxes from Amazon.com. Love them or hate them, they’ve been successful, owning about a quarter of all U.S. online retail sales. But who should own the new domain “.amazon?” Our friends at ICANN (say it with me: “The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers”) are currently weighing that question.
Trademark Question: Can You Use Another Company’s Trademark As A Hashtag?
August 4, 2015
Hashtags: No matter how hard you might try, they just won’t go away. And there’s undeniable value in using hashtags to draw eyeballs to a social media post. Companies of all sizes and descriptions are leveraging hashtags to get their message out there. Which leads to today’s trademark question: can you use another company’s trademark as a hashtag?
