I ♡ Trademarks NewsletterIssue #382
Bri Van Til | April 23, 2024
Litigating Circumstances
This case about Bank of America’s Erica virtual assistant underscores the significance of actual and demonstrable use in commerce.
Go here to watch the recording of last week’s wonderful webinar about trademark litigation.
Here’s a nice (client-targeted) reminder that successful copyright claims can come with attorney fee awards.
Adidas is appealing its defeat in its suit against Thom Browne. I don’t know how many times they’ll try that, but I think the rule is three stripes you’re out.
I Object
Someone has filed a trademark application for DIDDY DO IT. I was definitely tempted to make some “Who’s on first” type jokes here, but I didn’t do it. ‘Cause I’m not Diddy.
The EU General Court has upheld the EUIPO’s ruling that a Puerto Rican company can’t register a trademark for PABLO ESCOBAR because it would conflict with “accepted principles of morality.”
A former Amazon AI developer is alleging she was fired in part for speaking out about the company’s copyright infringement.
The EUIPO has issued guidance to make “objectionable” determinations more objective. That’s the object, anyway, so I hope you have no objections.
The Lap of Luxury
Trademark applications suggest Royal Caribbean may be creating a new loyalty program.
Ferrari has filed a patent for a hydrogen-powered engine.
Luxury sports apparel brand Lacoste has won a trademark infringement suit in China against a retailer selling clothing featuring crocodiles.
Professional Concerns
I’d recommend you Natcast this senior IP counsel position aside. Unless you’re afraid of acronyms and initialisms. If you are, IP might not be the profession for you.
I thought I’d Sandia this listing for a patent/IP attorney.
If you’ve been searching for a great position for a while, this senior commercial counsel position might be Alight at the end of the tunnel.
AutoZone—the store for car parts, not that thing you do when someone is rambling about something boring—is looking for corporate counsel.
Have an open role on your team? Send a link to your job listing to [email protected], and we’ll publish it in our next newsletter.
Odds and Ends
The USPTO is planning on issuing some rulemaking proposals to formalize its Director Review process.
Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2024 WTR Industry Awards (and a huge shout out to Brand Action for making the list)!
If you’re traveling to the INTA Annual Meeting, you can offset the carbon for your trip here.
California has a law that prohibits law enforcement from publicly releasing photos of suspects in most non-violent crimes, so the police of Murrieta had a practice of replacing the faces with those of Legos. Not surprisingly, the toy company didn’t welcome the association. You could say they wanted to block them from doing that. The officers didn’t want to Lego of the practice, but they agreed to.
Pharrell Williams applied for a trademark for P.INC. Pink says just give me a reason to oppose that.