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Mealey's Trademarks

  • August 29, 2025

    Split Federal Circuit Again Sends 4-Letter Word Mark Application Back To TTAB

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an artist and designer’s constitutional arguments against the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB’s) decision to deny his trademark applications for a vulgar word, but the panel still vacated the TTAB’s decision for lack of specificity, saying the TTAB’s “reasoning sounds in fact very much as though it has taken an ‘I know it when I see it’ approach to failure-to-function refusals.”

  • August 26, 2025

    Lilly, Medical Centers Agree To Settle Diet Drugs Trademark Case In Federal Court

    SEATTLE — Eli Lilly and Co., two medical centers and two of their physicians who prescribe patients compounded versions of tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for diabetes and weight loss, told a Washington federal judge that they have reached an agreement to end a trademark case filed by Lilly.

  • August 20, 2025

    COMMENTARY: A Survey Of State Laws Regulating Third-Party Litigation Funding

    By Mark A. Behrens and Christopher E. Appel

  • August 22, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Contempt Denial For Tennis Association In Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge was correct to refuse to hold the United States Tennis Association Inc. (USTA) in contempt of a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a patent dispute involving let detection systems used at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 21.

  • August 22, 2025

    Judge: No Patent Infringement, Harm From False Claims In Chemical Row

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland found after a bench trial that plaintiff chemical makers failed to prove literal infringement on the part of W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. because they did not show that each of Grace’s accused catalyst particles met the requirements of the asserted patent’s claims.

  • August 21, 2025

    Judge Sees No Similarity Between Novels And Netflix Film, Tosses IP Claims

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice copyright, false advertising and related claims brought by a novelist against Netflix Inc. and related entities, finding that the novelist failed to show that the 2021 Netflix disaster comedy “Don’t Look Up” copied any protectible element of his books.

  • August 19, 2025

    Federal Judge Again Finds Contempt In Long-Running Jarred Sauce Trademark Row

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge held the owners of a city pizzeria named Patsy’s Pizzeria and their counsel in contempt in a long-simmering trademark infringement dispute over packaged sauces launched in 1999 by another New York restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, after they again violated an injunction by applying for “Patsy’s” marks.

  • August 19, 2025

    Federal Judge: Tech Company Didn’t Support Trademark Claims Against Meta

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a motion for summary judgment from Meta Platforms Inc., finding that plaintiff Metabyte Inc. failed to provide evidence of confusion in support of its trademark infringement claims it brought against the social media company after it changed its name from Facebook Inc.

  • August 15, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Co-Ownership Of ‘Zioness’ Mark, Vacates Fee Denial

    NEW YORK — A panel in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal jury’s finding that two pro-Zionist advocacy groups were the co-owners of the trademark “Zioness,” holding that sufficient evidence supported a finding that there was overlap of use of the mark before its registration.

  • August 13, 2025

    ‘Space Force’ Mark Applicant Takes Rejection To High Court, Citing Loper

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals inappropriately deferred to the interpretation used by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of a section of the Lanham Act when affirming the TTAB’s rejection of an attorney’s application for a mark on US SPACE FORCE filed only days after President Donald J. Trump’s first proposals regarding the branch, the attorney told the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • August 08, 2025

    Federal Circuit: TTAB Should Have Found Drink Mark Similar To Sunkist’s Mark

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) incorrectly held that two marks for soft drinks that both involve the word “Kist” are unlikely to be confused, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, reversing in favor of Sunkist Growers Inc.

  • August 07, 2025

    Judge Says Plaintiff Entity Can’t Show It Used Indian Political Mark First

    DALLAS — A Texas federal judge held that a plaintiff organization based in Texas that supports a political party in India cannot show that it claims priority to its name, agreeing that the defendant entity used its “nearly identical” name before the plaintiff entity came into existence.

  • August 06, 2025

    Federal Judge Reverses TTAB’s Finding That Apple AR Trademarks Are Descriptive

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Virginia federal judge ordered the registration of Apple Inc.’s proposed trademarks “Reality Composer” and “Reality Converter” for augmented reality (AR) products, finding that the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) incorrectly held that the proposed marks were merely descriptive and thus not trademark eligible.

  • August 04, 2025

    9th Circuit: Reverse Confusion Analysis Correct In Peloton Infringement Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that factors “overwhelmingly” favored a finding that Peloton Interactive Inc.’s “Peloton Bike+” was not likely to be confused with a mobile app called “Bike+,” affirming a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in Peloton’s favor on a trademark infringement claim.

  • July 30, 2025

    9th Circuit: Use Of Drag Queen’s Image In Netflix Cartoon Not Infringing

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed that a “fleeting” use of a drag performer’s likeness in an animated show released by Netflix Inc. was not used to designate the show’s source, affirming a California federal judge’s dismissal of the performer’s infringement suit against the company and related film entities.

  • July 30, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Counterclaims Filed Against Lilly In Diet Drugs’ Trademarks Case

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge dismissed with prejudice an abuse of process counterclaim filed by medical centers and two physicians who prescribe patients compounded versions of tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for diabetes and weight loss, against Eli Lilly and Co., noting that “this is far from a close call.”

  • July 28, 2025

    AI Chatbots Replicate Tony Robbins’ Protected Works, Motivational Speaker Says

    LOS ANGELES — Two companies promote artificial intelligence chatbot replicas of Tony Robbins using his image, persona, methodologies and other protected material, the motivational speaker’s companies say in a complaint filed in a federal court in California alleging “digital, commercialized impersonation and misappropriation.”

  • July 25, 2025

    Federal Circuit OKs Judgment On Patent, Copyright, Other Claims On Steel Brace

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A steel company failed to show that a construction company infringed its patent describing a type of bracing for preventing seismic damage to buildings, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a Utah federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in the construction company’s favor.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circuit: Bored Ape NFTs Trademarkable, But Confusion Not Shown

    SAN FRANCISCO — While a panel in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the makers of Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that NFTs are trademarkable “goods” as defined in the Lanham Act, the panel reversed summary judgment in the company’s favor on trademark infringement and cybersquatting claims because it failed to show convincingly that consumers would confuse its NFTs with other ape-themed products from two defendants lampooning the original NFTs.

  • July 22, 2025

    Judge Finds For OpenAI In Suit Over Open AI Trademark

    SAN FRANCISCO — While both companies in a trademark dispute over the “Open AI” mark offered artificial intelligence products, it was OpenAI Inc. that commercialized and advertised its products and whose mark acquired a secondary meaning, a federal judge in California said in granting the company summary judgment on July 21.

  • July 22, 2025

    Federal Circuit Reverses Patent, Trademark Infringement Finding In Sweatshirt Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed an Arizona federal jury’s verdict in a design patent and trademark infringement dispute related to oversized sweatshirts, holding that substantial evidence does not support the jury’s finding that a manufacturer infringed another entity’s trademarks.

  • July 17, 2025

    9th Circuit: Supplement Trademark Used Abroad Can’t Be Confused With Older Mark

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a nutrition supplement company’s contention that a competitor’s proposed trademark for “Nature’s Day” had been shown to have a likelihood of being confused with the company’s “Nature’s Way” mark because the “Nature’s Day” mark was exclusively used on products sold abroad, contravening the Lanham Act’s bar on extraterritoriality.

  • July 16, 2025

    2nd Circuit Revives Counterfeit Speaker Claims, Vacates Summary Judgment

    NEW YORK — A panel in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a New York federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an online electronics market, holding July 15 that the judgment stemmed from an incorrect finding that an electronics manufacturer failed to establish a prima facie case for its trademark infringement and counterfeiting claims.

  • July 15, 2025

    After Settlement Notice, Judge Moots Motions In Web-Based Retailers Trademark Row

    DENVER — After a fencing company and the web-based retailers it sued over alleged trademark infringement notified the court that the parties entered into a settlement agreement, a Colorado federal judge on July 14 issued a docket-only order denying as moot motions to dismiss and for an extension of time related to discovery.

  • July 14, 2025

    4th Circuit: No Error In Injunction Barring Gaming Chair Mark Use In Europe

    RICHMOND, Va. — A panel in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 11 affirmed a Virginia federal judge’s implementation of a permanent injunction that bars a video game peripheral maker’s use of the mark “GTRacing” internationally; the panel held that the injunction does not run afoul of the Lanham Act’s territorial limitations because it enforces a previously negotiated and subsequently breached settlement agreement.