This is part 3 of a 3 part blog. Please click here to read Part 1 – Generic Marks. Please click here to read Part 2 – Merely Descriptive & Geographically Descriptive.  A mark can be refused registration if it bears a significant resemblance to a government insignia. In In re Shabby Chic Brands LLC, 122 USPQ2d 1139 (TTAB 2017), Shabby Chic Brands, LLC sought to register an image of “an ornate, feathered crown”…

This is part 2 of a 3 part blog. Please click here to read Part 1 – Generic Marks. Please click here to read Part 3 – Government Insignia & Surname.  Trademarks are also non-registrable under the Lanham Act if the mark, when used in connection with applicant’s goods or services, is merely descriptive of them. 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1). In a recent case, In re Houston Bites, LLC, Serial No. 87170141, applicant Houston Bites…

Trademarks are product differentiators that help consumers recognize familiar brands that customers have come to associate with a certain perceived level of goodwill, reputation, quality, taste, consistency, and style. A form of shorthand, a unique signature of sorts, a trademark signals to consumers the source or origin of a particular good or service. Walking into a McDonalds, we know how a cheeseburger is going to taste. Seeing a red and white striped curved awning with…

In recent years, various government branches and departments across the country who are responsible for policing the government’s own trademarks have been sending cease-and-desist letters and filing suit against local businesses that are using trademarks likely to either cause confusion as to the government’s sponsorship of or affiliation with the companies or dilute the famous qualities of the government’s distinctive marks.…

While 46 states have instituted laws permitting or decriminalizing cannabis or cannabis-based products in some way, prior events this year created an environment of legal uncertainty. Since 2013, cannabis companies have relied on guidance contained within a trio of memos from former deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, which detailed the federal government’s concerns with preventing marijuana distribution to minors, gangs, or into states where the drug’s sale remains illegal, as well as preventing the…

Recently, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz introduced the Medical Cannabis Research Act (the “Act”), which would facilitate and encourage federally-approved clinical trials testing the medicinal effects of chemicals found in the marijuana plant. The bill is notable because, if passed, it would bypass the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as it relates to marijuana research licenses and would put the task in the hands of Congress. Currently, the House Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for the…