Posts Tagged: "trademark"

High Court to Take on Vidal’s TRUMP TOO SMALL Trademark Petition

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted a petition brought by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Katherine Vidal that asks, “whether the refusal to register a mark under Section 1052(c) violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment when the mark contains criticism of a government official or public figure.” The case was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in February of last year, and the full court denied a request for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc in August. The February CAFC decision held the Office’s application of Section 2(c) of the Lanham Act to reject the mark TRUMP TOO SMALL was unconstitutional. Specifically, the CAFC panel held that “applying section 2(c) to bar registration of [Steve] Elster’s mark unconstitutionally restricts free speech in violation of the First Amendment.”

UKIPO Issues New Trademark Guidance on NFTs, the Metaverse and Virtual Goods

On  April 3, 2023, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) issued much needed guidance on how digital goods and services – namely non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual goods, and services provided in the metaverse – should be classified for trademark purposes. NFTs The UKIPO defines an NFT as “a unique unit of data (the only one existing of its type) that…

Recapping Abitron at the High Court: The Long Arm of the…Lanham Act?

Can the Lanham Act apply to the conduct of foreign entities occurring entirely outside the United States and, if so, what is the test? The Supreme Court will soon decide this issue in Abitron v. Hetronic, potentially resolving a long-standing circuit split where six different tests presently co-exist. It will mark the first time since the Court’s 1952 ruling in Steele v. Bulova Watch Co. that it has spoken on extraterritoriality as it relates to the Lanham Act. Steele found that the Lanham Act does apply to a U.S. citizen using a registered U.S. trademark on spurious Bulova watches, many of which were bought by U.S. citizens in Mexico and brought back to the United States. Steele did not address whether the defendant’s U.S. citizenship, or his sourcing of parts from U.S. suppliers, were necessary conditions to subject matter jurisdiction. Enter Hetronic.

Statute of Limitations Under the Anti-Cybersquatting Statute: A Very Limited Limitation

Despite being codified more than 20 years ago, there are many open questions regarding application of the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d) (“ACPA”). Certainly, domain name conflicts continue to evolve given the continued importance of the domain name system to the Internet and the constant changes in both technology and strategies of offenders. But there are also open questions in the application of the cybersquatting law itself, including the applicability and application of statutes of limitations. Does a statute of limitations apply to ACPA claims? If so, how long is it? And from when does it run? This article discusses the relatively small body of law that analyzes statutes of limitations for cybersquatting claims under the ACPA.

High Ratio of U.S. Trademark Registrations to Assets Increases Annual Value

Brands — legally protected as trademarks — have value. We all understand that intuitively. Registering brands as federal trademarks also provides significant legal benefits, such as the presumption of ownership, validity, and nationwide priority in the mark. According to a recent study, the number of trademarks a company registers in a given year helps predict that company’s profitability and stock returns for the following year.