Choosing a trademark can be one of the most exciting parts about building your business. Your trademark should represent your brand and identify your company as the source of your brand’s goods or services. It is important to choose a strong trademark which will offer greater protectability and less risk to potential infringements and challenges.…
Halloween is almost upon us, and as it approaches, trademark owners must be alert of something especially frightening. Recently, our firm has received another scam letter for trademark renewal fees. The letter, which says it was sent from the “Patent & Trademark Bureau,” is requesting for us to pay a $925 renewal fee for our…
The majority of this information can be viewed here and here. In the trademark world lots of symbols are associated with a lot of different meanings. For example, the TM symbol (TM), the copyright symbol (©), the service mark symbol (SM)and the R symbol (®). What do these marks mean and are you using them…
*The information for this blog can be found here. If your mark includes a name, portrait, or signature that is of a living individual and you want to register the mark at the USPTO, you must provide the USPTO certain information regarding that individual. The USPTO requires: A statement that the name, portrait, or…
We receive SO many questions about specimens. When do I submit one? How do I submit one? What type of specimen? And even, what is a specimen? Have no fear! Let’s break it down. Taken from the USPTO website: a specimen is a sample of how you actually use the mark in commerce on your…
We get a lot, I mean A LOT, of questions about the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and trademark legal stuff in general. So, if reading blogs about trademarks is not your thing, then you might want to skip our next couple blogs. The USPTO only: Reviews trademark applications and determines if the…
We’re pretty excited! We were recently named as one of the Top 30 Food Law Blogs on the web. Assuming numbers count for something, we were actually in the top 10! Check it out! Check out the full list at: https://blog.feedspot.com/food_law_blogs/
USPTO Trademark Registration The difference between a standard trademark application versus an Intent to Use application. We always get a lot of questions regarding trademarks, about the registration process, and the different types of trademark applications. Watch the video to learn more about the USPTO and how to register trademarks. Contact…
There are a couple of issues with trademarking “Sunshine State Brewing Company.” (1) You cannot register a geographic location on the federal registry (USPTO). (2) You cannot register a generic word or phrase. Let’s delve into the reasoning. For “Sunshine State Brewing Company” you cannot own the words “brewing company” because they’re generic. The word…
Trademark Series Part 3 Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our Trademark Series! In addition to the federal registry (The United States Patent and Trademark Office), you can also register your mark at the state level. The USPTO oversees federal registration for trademarks. The USPTO offers national protection for your mark.…
Trademark Series: Part 2 In Part 1 of our trademark blog series (click here), we discussed the status of incontestability in trademark law. Incontestability seems like a sure thing- the registrant has exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce. But, with all things legal, there are exceptions. Many people hear the word…
Label requirements can be tricky-different rules apply to different states. Domestic beverages and imported beverages have different guidelines. The purpose of this blog is to clear up some of the confusion surrounding beer labels. For all intent and purposes I will focus on North Carolina rules since that is what I am most familiar with.…
Part I: Trademark Incontestability After federally registering your trademark you might think that you’re done dealing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but, unfortunately, think again. You still have one more deadline to abide by if you want to permanently strengthen your registered rights. As the proud owner of a federally trademarked…
Trademark Snarkiness Recently, I’m sure you probably saw it – it got a lot of coverage, even from NPR) – Exit 6 Brewery got pretty snarky with Starbucks. And Starbucks defended itself (somewhat) here. I had several people ask me about this; what my thoughts were, what I would have done, etc. I promised…
I do a fair bit of work in intellectual property and, especially, trademark issues. It always surprises me what bullies, blusterers, and even a$$holes trademark attorneys can be. The general jerky-ness of attorneys is well publicized in social media and the vast number of lawyer jokes out there (for example: http://www.jokes.com/funny-lawyer-jokes). But, even among lawyers,…
This is the obligatory trademark blog post. I say that because it seems to be one of the most common and most commented on topics in craft beer (at least in legal circles) other than the effect of the Gov Shutdown on the TTB. In fact, the cover story in Sept/Oct 2013 issue of…