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Mealey's Trademarks

  • February 14, 2025

    4th Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid On MOKE Mark Genericness Finding

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 11 said it would not reconsider a January opinion from a split panel that reversed a Virginia federal judge’s holding that MOKE is a generic term describing a type of vehicle that is unable to be trademarked due to a lack of evidence on the record regarding genericness.

  • February 07, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Judge Got Articulation Of Trade Dress Requirement Wrong

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge wrongly held that a motorcycle equipment company failed to adequately describe its helmet trade dress in an infringement suit brought against a competitor, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Feb. 6; the error led the judge to improperly dismiss the case, the panel held.

  • February 07, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Judge Got Articulation Of Trade Dress Requirement Wrong

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge wrongly held that a motorcycle equipment company failed to adequately describe its helmet trade dress in an infringement suit brought against a competitor, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Feb. 6; the error led the judge to improperly dismiss the case, the panel held.

  • February 07, 2025

    Federal Judge: Clothing Trademark Dispute Should’ve Been Brought In California

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — A New York federal judge ordered a trademark dispute between clothing companies over the word mark ALMOST GAMEDAY transferred to a California federal court, agreeing with the defendant companies that the complaint was filed in an improper venue.

  • February 06, 2025

    Federal Judge Tosses Tennessee Team’s Trademark Fight With Arkansas School

    SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah dismissed a trademark complaint brought by the management company that owns a Tennessee professional soccer team against Arkansas State University (ASU), holding that the company failed to show that the university maintained sufficient contacts with Utah to establish personal jurisdiction.

  • February 05, 2025

    6th Circuit: Kentucky Colonel Trademark Contempt Appeal Can Continue

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 4 denied a motion from the organization that holds trademarks related to the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel” to dismiss an appeal brought by a pro se appellant held in contempt by a Kentucky federal judge for failing to comply with a permanent injunction barring him from using the mark, but the panel told the appellant that he would be afforded no more extensions of time to file his opening brief.

  • February 05, 2025

    9th Circuit: Former Church Member Lost License To Share Teachings In 2021

    SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a Washington federal judge that a former member of a Seattle-based religious community did not breach a licensing agreement by uploading copyrighted church materials after the 1999 death of the organization’s founder but reversed the judge’s finding that the license was terminated in 2021.

  • February 05, 2025

    Judge Again Enters Injunction In Jack Daniel’s Dog Toy Trademark Fight

    PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona found that a dog toy maker did not infringe on marks held by Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. but that the spirits company was still entitled to a permanent injunction because the toy that parodies the Jack Daniel’s bottle can still tarnish the alcohol marks.

  • January 30, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Cancellation Of Japanese Candy Related Word Mark

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was right to cancel a company’s registration for the word mark TONOSAMA, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, agreeing with the board that the mark is confusingly similar to another company’s registered trademark for the same word.

  • January 29, 2025

    Petitioners To High Court: Trademark Settlement ‘Fraud’ Must Be Fixed

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court must grant a writ of certiorari in a trademark infringement case because the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly allowed to stand a New York federal judge’s denial of a request to vacate a 2011 settlement in the face of an allegedly fraudulent document submitted as evidence in the case, four companies tell the high court in a recently docketed petition.

  • January 28, 2025

    Judge Tosses Designer’s Copyright Claims For Use Of Character On Album Art

    LOS ANGELES — A designer who accused a hip-hop producer of copyright infringement for using a character he designed on multiple album covers since 1999 failed to show that the implied license granted to the producer had any kind of expiration date, a federal judge in California held, granting a motion from the producer and related entities for judgment on the pleadings.

  • January 24, 2025

    Judge Says First Sale Doctrine Doesn’t Apply To Software Keys

    SEATTLE — The first sale doctrine does not apply to software product keys, a federal judge in Washington held Jan. 23, because those keys are not themselves copyrightable works, granting partial summary judgment as to a single affirmative defense in favor of the Microsoft Corp. against a Canadian entity and several individuals Microsoft called “prolific distributors of black market access devices to Microsoft software that they unlawfully advertise to consumers as genuine software.”

  • January 21, 2025

    Supreme Court Rejects Jurisdictional Appeal In Counterfeit Doll Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court left in place an opinion by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversing a New York federal judge’s finding that the court lacked personal jurisdiction in a case brought by dollmaker American Girl LLC against a Chinese company for allegedly selling counterfeited goods; the high court denied the Chinese company’s petition for a writ of certiorari on Jan. 21.

  • January 21, 2025

    Medical Services Provider Accused Of Unlawfully ‘Annexing’ Sports Clinic

    LOS ANGELES — Two entities involved in operating a provider of sports medicine and orthopedic surgery and two affiliated doctors filed a complaint in California state court accusing a nonprofit medical services provider and its executives of unlawfully seeking to “absorb . . . and unlawfully control” the sports medicine providers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), trademark dilution laws and other state laws prohibiting employment-related retaliation.

  • January 17, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Judge Erred In Similarity Analysis In Nut Trade Dress Fight

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 16 reversed a New York federal judge’s dismissal of a trade dress infringement dispute between competing nut companies, holding that the plaintiff company adequately alleged the possibility of confusion between the packaging of the companies’ respective pistachio products.

  • January 17, 2025

    Split 4th Circuit Finds MOKE Mark Genericness Finding Lacked Evidence

    RICHMOND, Va. — A split Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Virginia federal judge’s holding that MOKE is a generic term describing a type of vehicle that is unable to be trademarked, holding that there is a “dearth of relevant evidence in the record” because the matter of genericness was raised only after the conclusion of a trial.

  • January 16, 2025

    9th Circuit: Kinetic Sculpture Company’s Copyright Claim Survives Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a plaintiff company adequately alleged that another company infringed on copyrighted elements of its kinetic sculptures that could be manipulated into various shapes to survive a dismissal motion; the panel reversed a California federal judge’s order dismissing the copyright infringement claim.

  • January 15, 2025

    Ozempic Maker Sues Seller Of Compounded Drugs, Alleging Trademark Infringement

    ATLANTA — The manufacturer of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus sued a weight-loss center in Georgia that sells and promotes compounded drug products that purport to contain semaglutide for false advertising and trademark infringement in a Georgia federal court.

  • January 14, 2025

    AI Voice Cloning Company, Voice Actors Brief Motion To Dismiss

    NEW YORK — Responding to an artificial intelligence company’s contention that voice actors’ claims were time-barred and suffered from other defects, two named class action plaintiffs told a federal judge in New York that they own the rights to their voices and that the ongoing use of cloned voices sold under different names places the case within the applicable time frame.

  • January 10, 2025

    Judge: Defendants Don’t Show Invalidity Of Baby Bag Trade Dress, Copyright

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida dismissed counterclaims brought by two companies accused of trade dress and copyright infringement by the maker of baby carrier products, holding that the defendant companies failed to show that the plaintiff company’s trade dress or copyright were invalid.

  • January 09, 2025

    Judge Finds Probiotic Infant Product Patent Claims To Be Invalid

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant biopharmaceutical company accused of infringing on two patents related to probiotic products for infants, holding that the relevant claims of the patents were anticipated by prior art references.

  • January 09, 2025

    Company Must Produce Witness’ Lawsuit Funding Evidence In OpenAI Trademark Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A company locked in a suit with OpenAI Inc. over trademark infringement must produce documents related to a nonparty witness who is an investor and is funding the company’s defense as the evidence goes to his credibility and bias, a federal magistrate judge in California said Jan. 8.  In a second order the court granted OpenAI additional time to depose the company’s founder.

  • January 09, 2025

    Judge: Bar’s Arbitration Arguments In Trademark Fight With Chicago Cubs Fail

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois refused to dismiss a trademark infringement complaint brought by the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club LLC against a bar that overlooks Wrigley Field and its owner, alleging that the bar defendants knowingly falsely promote the business as a partner with the baseball team; the judge held that the bar defendants could not hinge their dismissal motion on an argument related to arbitration.

  • January 07, 2025

    Color Of Hip Implants Functional, Not Trademarkable, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was correct to cancel trademarks owned by an artificial hip parts manufacturer, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the pink color of the relevant parts is a functional element referenced in the company’s now-expired patent.

  • January 06, 2025

    Split 9th Circuit Panel Revives Authors’ Trademark Suit Over Film Name

    SAN FRANCISCO — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a California federal judge’s decision to dismiss trademark claims brought by co-authors of a book called “Gringo” against makers of an otherwise unrelated film bearing the same name, with the majority holding that the co-authors plausibly alleged the likelihood of confusion between the works.