Archive for the ‘Trademarks’ Category
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Fine art and fashion converge at Upper Playground, a California based apparel company that operates galleries and retail stores throughout the world. San Francisco is home to Upper Playground’s headquarters and flagship FIFTY24SF Gallery, but the product is sold in various national and international locations. Examples of company operated retail locations are here. For many businesses, securing trademark protection is an afterthought, but Upper Playground CFO Aaron Burns actively addresses brand protection along with the various other operational issues involved with this multifaceted business. If Upper Playground is considering sales in Turkey, for example, we will get an email or a call inquiring into the status or availability of a trademark in that country. Although IP protection is a very small aspect of running an international fine art and apparel business, it still gets diligently addressed.
Tags: California, CFO Aaron Burns, copyright, intellectual property, international fine art, multifaceted business, Playground, protection, San Francisco, Trademark, Turkey, Upper, upper playground
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
In the movie Coming to America Mr. McDowell said look… me and the McDonald’s people got this little misunderstanding. See, they’re McDonald’s… I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.
Recent Trademark Cases in the Eastern District in Allentown
On October 26, 2009, a complaint for trademark infringement and unfair competition was filed by Tilted Kilt Franchise, LLC in the Allentown Office seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction and damages for use of the trademark TILTED KILT. The Complaint (hyperlink to attached file) states the plaintiff is a franchise company for Tilted Kilt Pubs and defendant operates a pub named The Tilted Kilt in Mount Joy PA. If you are going to build a franchise on a trademark and then license franchisees to use that mark, you must enforce your trademark rights or your franchise has little value.
Tags: Allentown, AMERICA, Eastern District, franchise, golden arches, KILT, little misunderstanding, Mick, Mount Joy, mount joy pa, TILTED, Tilted Kilt, Trademark, Trademark Infringement
Posted in Riddle Patent Law, Trademark Infringement, Trademarks | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
The Hershey Company recently filed two trademark cases, one against Little i, Inc., and another against Karma Candy, Inc. These cases were filed in the district court in Harrisburg.
An interesting copyright case was filed with the federal district court in Scranton, Scholz Design, Inc. v. Heritage Homes, Ltd. This one relates to the copyright in architectural building plans. It’s interesting because there is a separate body of copyright law that deals explicitly with the protections afforded structural blueprints and and architectural plans.
Tags: district court in Harrisburg, federal district court in Scranton, Inc. v. Heritage Homes, Karma Candy, Little i Inc, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Scholz Design, scranton copyright, scranton trademark, trademark cases
Posted in Copyrights, Riddle Patent Law, Trademark Infringement, Trademarks, intellectual property | No Comments »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
Just before the 2009 tour, Phish, Inc. lands a temporary restraining order to stop the unauthorized sale and distribution of Phish branded merchandise. The suit names John Does 1-100 and ABC Corporations 1-5 (a.k.a. hairy unbathed partly dazed parking lot people) as infringers of the valuable trademarks of the Phish empire. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, granted the TRO on March 6, 2009 (the opening date of the tour, I believe). More information here.
They won’t steal their poor heart Trade-Mark again. . . . . .
Tags: Federal courts, preliminary injunction, temporary restraining order, Trademark Infringement, Trademarks
Posted in Trademarks, intellectual property | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 4th, 2009
- Pick a trademark that is not confusingly similar with an already existing brand – especially where the prior brand is for related goods, or the prior brand is well known. It seems quite obvious but, in most cases, simpling changing a few letters of some other brand name well not keep you free from infringement. Confusing similarity between brands is measured, in part, by, comparing the elements of sight, sound, and/or meaning. Infringement can stem, from a finding of similarity in any one element.
- Don’t pick a brand name that defines or describes the goods or services you provide. These are weak trademarks that are more difficult to protect. Examples of defining / generic terms include: BREW for beer or FOOTWEAR for sneakers. Examples of descriptive terms include LIGHT for low calorie beverages or COTTON FEEL for clothing.
- Conduct a search before you launch your brand. You don’t want to face changing your brand name after you spent large amounts of time and money building recognition. Similarly, you don’t want to be precluded from operating in other countries because someone else uses a confusingly similar name for related goods or services.
- Secure registrations in the countries you sell to or expect to sell. This will help you avoid being blocked and may help you to stop knock offs. If you seek alliances with foreign businesses, keep in mind that many manufacturers and distributors refuse doing business unless the trademark registration is in place.
- Use trademark license provisions in your marketing and distribution agreements. These provisions give the parties specific terms governing how they operate. They also can give the owner contractual rights and remedies that can be enforced if the deal goes sour.
- Respect the brand by using the TM or ® designations where appropriate. In the U.S., the TM designation tells others you are treating the name as a trademark. The ® designation tells others that the name is a registered trademark, and the ® should be used with the goods or services listed in the trademark registration.
- Follow up by ensuring your trademark remains in use with your goods and services. If the brand’s trademark has changed over time, or the goods / services have changed you may need to amend the registration or apply for a new one.
- Protect your non-trademark intellectual property by securing copyright, patent, or design patent registration where applicable. Your product packaging artwork often screams brand identity and also should be secured to the extent possible with a copyright registration. The design of the product itself may be protected by a utility patent if the conditions of patentability are met. Similarly, the product itself or the design imprinted on a product may often be protected by copyright or design patent. This belt and suspenders approach often helps fight against brand erosion.
- Be vigilant by looking out for newcomers to the market that may be using your intellectual property without authorization. Enforce your rights if you find anyone conducting such unauthorized activities. Your failure to enforce your rights over time may provide the “bad guy” with a defense to an action for infringement.
- Get professional help. If you seek answers, retain counsel to look into your specific situation. This way you will get thoughtful consideration of your facts as they are applied to the relevant law. This brand protection info is generalized and exceptions may apply under your particular situation. This rules may change with time and also with jurisdiction.
Tags: Charles Riddle, Riddle Patent Law, Trademarks
Posted in Charles Riddle, Marketing Inventions, Riddle Patent Law, Trademarks | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Charles Riddle will be speaking to the undergraduate Feasibility Analysis class on March 30, 2009 – providing insight into his practice as an intellectual property attorney.
He will briefly discuss the legal theory of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets and how they translate into a competitive advantage asset in business.
He will also discuss his experiences with individual inventors, businesses and universities of the Northeast Pennsylvania, Scranton / Wilkes Barre region.
For more information, and inquire about attending the lecture contact:
Ellen Raineri, Ph.D.
The Jay Sidhu School of Business and Leadership
Wilkes University
Tags: Charles Riddle, Copyrights, Feasibility Analysis, Lecture, Northeast Pennsylvania, Patents, Scranton, The Jay Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, wilkes barre, Wilkes University
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Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Charles Riddle ESQ.
Mr. Riddle has worked on the application of patents, trademarks, and copyrights in the United States and abroad. He has also been involved in numerous patent, trademark, and copyright litigation in the federal courts. He has undertaken internet domain name disputes and prosecuted international trademark applications before the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Tags: Charles Riddle, Federal courts, Litigation, Patents, Trademarks, United States, World Intellectual Property Organization.
Posted in Copyrights, Patents, Riddle Patent Law, Trademarks | No Comments »
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
Welcome to the official Intellectual Property blog of Scranton Patent Lawyer, Charles Riddle. Here at this blog we will be discussing industry news and lessons learned related to Intellectual Property Management.
Tags: Charles Riddle, Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks
Posted in Copyrights, Patents, Riddle Patent Law, Trademarks | No Comments »
