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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Sports Law Trademarks

LA Times Highlights The Smart Personal Branding By Fred VanVleet

We love a recent article written by Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. Titled, Branded or not, Raptors teammates sport their own signature gear, Woike looks at how various members of the Raptors are taking branding into their own hands, with some going the extra step to ensure that their marks are protected. One athlete featured in […]

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Intellectual Property Trademarks

Trademark Defendant Between Rock And Hard Place On Attorney’s Fees Request

Typically, each party must pay its own attorney’s fees in litigation. The exception is when a contract contains a prevailing party clause or a statute provides that the prevailing party is entitled to a reimbursement of reasonable attorney’s fees. One such statute is the Lanham Act, which permits an award of reasonable attorney’s fees only […]

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Bankruptcy Trademarks

Trademark Licensing Rights Survive Bankruptcy, Says US Supreme Court

What happens to a trademark licensing agreement when the licensor files for bankruptcy? It is an issue that was just reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Mission Product Holdings v. Tempnology. The highest court held that filing for bankruptcy does not deprive the licensee of its rights to use the licensed trademark. […]

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Trademarks

Welcome To The Trademark Jungle, Guns N’ Roses

The rock band Guns N’ Roses has been around since 1984 and is a known name in the music industry to just about everyone in the United States. While the band members have spent most of their lives creating and performing music, they are now going to be occupied with litigating a trademark infringement lawsuit […]

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Drugs/Doping Trademarks

What’s The Deal With Cannabis And CBD Trademarks?

We have been asked by many clients whether we can assist them with registering trademarks connected to the sale of cannabis and cannabis-related goods and services. In the past, we needed to be very creative to push applications through to registration. Now, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may be making things a bit […]

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Trademarks

The Milk Bar You Know Is Suing A Milk Bar Startup Based In Chicago

MomoMilk LLC, the owner of trademark registrations to the word mark “MILK BAR” and design marks for a stylized versions of “milk,” has filed a federal lawsuit against Milk Bar, LLC in Illinois. The plaintiff claims that the defendant has infringed on its trademarks based on the defendant’s use of a confusingly similar stylized design […]