Posts Tagged: "trademark dispute"

Supreme Court to Determine if Bankruptcy Code Allows Debtor to Terminate Trademark License Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC on appeal from the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The case will ask the nation’s highest court to determine whether 11 U.S.C. § 365, the statute in U.S. bankruptcy code regarding executory contracts and unexpired leases, requires that a debtor-licensor’s rejection of a trademark license agreement in bankruptcy terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor’s breach under applicable non-bankruptcy law. The Supreme Court declined to take up a second question presented on whether an exclusive right to sell certain products practicing a patent in a particular geographic territory is a “right to intellectual property” within Section 365(n) of U.S. bankruptcy code.

College, University Trademark Enforcement Campaigns Not a New Phenomenon

This activity has drawn a lot of attention and some commentators have gone so far as to decry these actions as “trademark bullying” carried out by powerful university interests and detrimental to the prospects of small businesses. According to trademark lawyer Josh Gerben, founder and principal of the Gerben Law Firm, not every trademark enforcement campaign by a university constitutes bullying. “Universities have a lot of value in their trademarks and they have a legal requirement to police the marketplace to protect their trademarks,” Gerben said. “In some instances, universities just appear to forget about the public relations consequences of taking legal action, and, while the action may be legally justified, it is done in  a way that makes the university appear to be a bully.”

Trademark Enforcement Campaign By Chicago Restaurant Aloha Poke Draws the Ire of Native Hawaiian Activists

In recent weeks, Chicago, IL-based Hawaiian cuisine chain Aloha Poke has become embroiled in a public relations nightmare over a trademark policing campaign which has created backlash over claims of cultural appropriation. According to reports, Aloha Poke has sent cease-and-desist letters to restaurants throughout the United States who have used the term “Aloha Poke” in their restaurant branding… Knobbe Martens Partner Catherine Holland, who specializes in trademark, unfair competition and copyright law, says that the kind of public backlash which has resulted in Native Hawaiian activists calling for boycotts of the Chicago-based Aloha Poke is not limited to the restaurant industry or even instances involving claims of cultural appropriation.

Ukraine: 25 Years After the USSR Collapse, Two Countries’ Banks Keep Disputing One Trademark

Two signs “Oschadbank” and “Sberbank” have the same meaning in Ukrainian and Russian, namely, the abbreviation of SBEREGATELNYY BANK (Savings Bank). After the Soviet Union disintegration in 1991, the signs began to be used separately in Ukraine and Russia. Between 2003-2006, Ukrainian Oschadbank JSC registered two trademarks: Oschadbank and Sberbank. In 2007, Sberbank JSC entered the Ukrainian market under the combined sign “Sberbank Rosii” (Savings Bank of Russia) and after a while in 2015 began to use the trademark without the “Rosii” element.

A Trademark Lesson from Chicken Soup for the Soul

Chicken Soup for the Soul Day is on November 12th. This is a day to sip on a nice piping hot bowl of soup and feel inspired. However, it’s also an opportunity to learn a little lesson on trademark infringement. In October 2012, Campbell Soup Company filed a trademark suit against Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing LLC in New Jersey federal court for “willful trademark and trade dress infringement, false designation of origin, trade dress dilution, deceptive acts and practices, and unfair competition.” Campbell Soup Co. and Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing LLC settled their trademark dispute, but the dispute provides a lesson for on how businesses can avoid trademark infringement issues.