Posted by James Juo | Sep 10, 2026 |
While geographic market separation is highly relevant, particularly to likelihood of confusion and territorial injunctive relief, the Court held that it is not a "categorical rule."
Posted by James Juo | Sep 09, 2026 |
Juice Generation and Jack Wolfskin bring to mind the adage that “quantity has a quality all its own.” These cases and their progeny stand for the proposition that where there is “voluminous” or “extensive” evidence of use of third-party marks, the specifics of the uses need not be proven to make the evidence probative of commercial weakness.
Posted by James Juo | Sep 08, 2026 |
[W]hile the numbers are low, there’s nothing that would show that Respondent’s U.S. sales were stopped or were purposefully being “drawn-down.”
Posted by James Juo | Sep 04, 2026 |
“find” means to locate, “fetch” means to retrieve, and “transfer” means to convey—meanings that, in the context of selfdriving robots for delivery, plainly describe functions of the robots
Posted by James Juo | Sep 03, 2026 |
The differences Applicant highlights in the female names pale in comparison to the overall similarities in the marks—and it’s not a close question.
Posted by James Juo | Sep 02, 2026 |
For an embedding webpage that only receives content "transmitted by an authorized source" such as the copyright owner, there is no infringement because of the "volitional conduct" of the copyright owner in allowing the transmission.
Posted by James Juo | Aug 27, 2026 |
Here, the evidence establishes that, for safety and ease of use, high visibility can be a desirable, sometimes necessary, characteristic for gear used in construction environments, especially surveyor tripods that might appear among various other items and need to be seen from great distances. The evidence also shows the color claimed in the proposed mark is one of a few colors that provide high visibility in these environments.
Posted by James Juo | Aug 26, 2026 |
Normally one would first consider the meaning of each component term of a proposed mark and then determine whether the proposed mark as a whole is merely descriptive, but the TTAB found it unnecessary to do so for the applied-for mark CONCERT BLACK for various clothing items because the record demonstrated that "the wording CONCERT BLACK is a unitary phrase that has a distinct meaning to the relevant purchasing public." In re Concert Black LLC, Ser. No. 97921491(TTAB Aug. 18, 2026).
Posted by James Juo | Aug 25, 2026 |
"there is some evidence to show that RIPPED is somewhat suggestive in the broad physical fitness industry, but insufficient evidence to demonstrate commercial weakness even as to that broad sector." In re Ripped Franchise, LLC, Ser. No. 98369548 (TTAB Aug. 10, 2026)
Posted by James Juo | Aug 24, 2026 |
The trouble with Applicant’s argument is it failed to make of record any evidence showing that consumers of agricultural closing wheels would associate the letter “Y” in the mark with the leaves and branches of a plant.
Posted by James Juo | Aug 21, 2026 |
There is precedent holding that a plant may be botanically classed as a fruit but considered for certain legal purposes as a vegetable.
Posted by James Juo | Aug 20, 2026 |
half-page agreement constituted naked consent that had little impact on the likelihood of confusion analysis involving applications filed by Legend IP Holdings Production, LLC to register the mark GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE for various goods and services finding confusion likely with certain GODZILLA or GODZILLA-formative marks, registered by Toho Co., Ltd., for various goods and services
Posted by James Juo | Aug 19, 2026 |
Lost International, LLC has used the trademark MAYHEM® since 1986 in connection with surfboards, surf equipment, clothing, accessories, and surf videos. And, in 2025, Lost sued to enjoin Lady Gaga from marketing and selling MAYHEM clothing and headwear. Lost Int'l. LLC v. Stefani Joanne Germanotta, No. SA CV 25-00592 FMO (KESx) (C.D. Cal. Aug. 18, 2026).
Posted by James Juo | Aug 14, 2026 |
The mark ROUNDS for "cigars" was found to be merely descriptive because it will immediately convey to consumers a key feature of cigars, namely, their circular cross-sectional shape.
Posted by James Juo | Aug 10, 2026 |
tarnishment based on the likelihood of generating disgust from a scatological parody was "pure conjecture" and "ignores that Bad Spaniels is an obvious parody."
Posted by James Juo | Aug 05, 2026 |
For a webpage selling the goods, a specimen of use typically consists of a single webpage showing the goods for sale, the trademark on or in close proximity to the goods, the price, and a shopping-cart button. But interlinked webpages sometimes can be acceptable.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 30, 2026 |
Having found that there was no evidence in the record that Applicant's MUSEUM OF NAMES was "a museum of names (or, more generally, a museum)"; the TTAB reversed the refusal.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 27, 2026 |
the applied-for BRECKIN ANKLES mark would likely be understood as a slang variant of the phrase “Breaking Ankles” when used in connection with clothing items “to be used in relation to basketball” and “basketball accessories”--namely to cause a player to stumble--whereas the cited BREKENS B mark would likely be understood to be a name, particularly given the presence of the initial “B” in close proximity to BREKENS in the mark.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 24, 2026 |
While evidence of substantial advertising expenditures, social media activity, and billboards may demonstrate commercial promotion of the claimed mark, the case here lacked objective evidence such as consumer surveys or third-party declarations showing that the relevant consumers perceive WIN BIG LAW as identifying that party as the source of the services, rather than as a promotional slogan touting successful results.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 21, 2026 |
In KetoNatural Pet Foods, Inc. v. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., No. 24-3185, __ F.4th __ (10th Cir. Jul. 14, 2026), the Tenth Circuit found that statements by Hill’s that grain-free pet food (like KetoNatural’s) were linked to a higher risk of canine heart disease were plausibly false advertising, but not the statements from veterinarians and non-profits allegedly affiliated with Hill’s.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 20, 2026 |
the heavy weight of the sixth factor is the dominant consideration in this case and “affect[s] the overall commercial impression” of the parties' marks under the first factor. Apex Bank, 156 F.4th at 1236. That is, although the parties' marks are similar under the first factor, consumers are likely to rely on the minor differences between the parties' marks (i.e. the addition of the generic word BANK and mountain peak design in Applicant's marks) to distinguish them in the crowded field of ASPIRE marks.
Posted by James Juo | Jul 15, 2026 |
Despite any rhyming qualities FLASHIN’ ASSASSIN might have, it does not impart a separate and distinct overall commercial impression. There is nothing of record that supports the conclusion that the rhyming quality imparts a new or different meaning to ASSASSIN or that FLASHIN’ does not retain its descriptive significance in relation to Respondent’s goods.
Posted by James Juo | Jun 23, 2026 |
FOODANALYZER bears a close descriptive relationship to the identified services and that “food” and “analyzer” individually have descriptive significance for those services. But descriptiveness, even high descriptiveness, is not tantamount to genericness.
Posted by James Juo | Jun 10, 2026 |
While evidence of residual goodwill can serve to negate a charge of abandonment based on a mark having become the generic name for the goods, . . . Registrant’s nonuse (and the lack of evidence that Registrant’s alleged predecessor-in-interest, Italproperties, ever used the mark). Alleged residual goodwill does not defeat nonuse.
Posted by James Juo | May 05, 2026 |
TTAB held that the specimen of use for the EVERWISE CREDIT UNION mark failed to demonstrate bona fide use in commerce because the tagline “Why TCU? Because we are an Everwise Credit Union™” would not be perceived as a source-indicator for registered financial services, but instead “merely use made in an attempt to reserve a right in the mark until Registrant was actually using the mark in commerce in connection with its financial services.”