Do you know what matters more than the registration of your business’s trademark? Its usage. One major way that a business can lose a viable trademark is non-use for a period of three or more years -- it's called trademark non-use abandonment. The USPTO tries to keep...
For many artists, part of the intention for a piece of art is to live beyond its creator. Similarly, inventors and business owners are likely hoping to leave behind some kind of legacy. Yet, surprisingly, many neglect to make a posthumous plan for their works –...
Back in July 2022, rapper Warren Hamilton filed a Notice of Opposition before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) against Daniel Hernandez, who goes by the stage name 6ix9ine. In the Opposition, Hamilton said that he had been using a similar stage name – SIX9...
If you inject the word “unofficial” into the title of a work, does that save you from copyright infringement troubles? Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, the creators of the wildly successful Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, have been learning about this the hard way in...
Have you ever wondered how businesses with similar names can legally coexist? Next time you see brands with similar marks, take note of their industry, products, and services. It is very likely that both businesses have registered trademarks – but they are registered...
When a business applies to register a trademark, other businesses may oppose the registration of that trademark for various reasons. One motivation for trademark opposition that sticks out in recent news: false suggestion of a connection. NPG Records, LLC and Paisley...
As we have discussed in previous posts, it is a business’s responsibility to pursue claims of infringement against its copyrights and trademarks – the TTAB will not do it for you. The reasonable hope is that this encourages businesses to make claims that are pragmatic...
Have you ever bought something on Amazon with a brand name that seemed unpronounceable? Perhaps the name’s language of origin was difficult to trace – almost like a string of random letters. That seems crazy, right? Well, this may in fact be the case for some brands...