Categories
Sports Law Trademarks

Why LeBron’s Taco Tuesday And Ohio State’s THE Failed The Trademark Test

Ohio State was denied the trademark registration to “THE” and LeBron James lost in an attempt to register “TACO TUESDAY.” Neither outcome should be shocking, whether you are a trademark attorney or not.

Categories
Sports Law Trademarks

How Taco Tuesday And Tom Terrific Have Made Trademarking Mainstream

Six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady filed a trademark application to register the mark “Tom Terrific.” Three-time NBA champion LeBron James recently initiated an effort to register the trademark “Taco Tuesday.”

Categories
Trademarks

Sports Nutrition Company Runs Out Of Fuel In Trademark Fight Against Gatorade

Gatorade used the slogan “Gatorade The Sports Fuel Company” and SportFuel, Inc. sued, claiming trademark infringement. The district court threw out the case after it decided that Gatorade’s slogan was construed as fair use. SportFuel appealed.

Categories
Trademarks

Mondelez Initiates Trademark Infringement Case, Wants To Protect Children From Getting Stoned

Mondelez is suing a company called Stoney Patch for trademark infringement. It claims that THC gummy products created and sold by Stoney Patch were intentionally designed to copy the Sour Patch brand under a confusingly similar name and packaging. It additionally says that it is especially concerned about confusing children, since the packaging is likely […]

Categories
Trademarks

Manscaping Companies Find Themselves In A Hairy Trademark Situation

The State of Illinois is home to a big new battle over the rights to use marks related to male grooming. You have definitely heard the words “manscaping” and “manscaped” used before, and now they are basically the subject of a federal court trademark dispute.

Categories
Trademarks

Oil Company’s Arguments Not Slick Enough To Overcome Trademark Loss

Is the domain name “OrderMyOil.com” entitled to common law trademark protection? An appellate court in Massachusetts has answered in the negative.

Categories
Trademarks

Venmo Is Not Cool With The Idea Of Being Able To Lenmo Money

In 2019, if you want a quick, easy way to send or receive money without paying a fee, you are likely using the app Venmo. It has become so popular that people will often ask to be Venmo’d money. As can be the case, a noun becomes a verb based on heightened usage.

Categories
Trademarks

You Now Need A United States Based Lawyer For USPTO Trademark Filings

As of August 3, 2019, trademark applicants and registrants based outside of the United States will need a U.S.-based lawyer if they want to extend their protections to the U.S. A new rule announced by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) states that the U.S.-based lawyer must be in good standing of a bar […]

Categories
Trademarks

About FUCT-ing Time Supreme Court Allows Scandalous Trademarks

HOLY FUCT! The U.S. Supreme Court previously decided that it would hear a case that involves the refusal of a trademark application for the word “FUCT” in conjunction with its use on apparel. On June 24, it issued its opinion and determined that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should not be able to refuse […]

Categories
Trademarks

Catching Up With Some Recent Heitner Legal Client Trademark Registrations

We love it when clients are able to beat our projection of 9-12 months from trademark application to registration. One client to recently capture that prize is Influential Drones LLC, which was awarded its registration for “Influential Drones” on May 14, 2019. The filing date of the application was September 18, 2018, which means that […]