Revival of Abandoned Brands – Like a Phoenix, but with Trademarks!

As discussed in a previous blog post, in the United States use of a trademark is generally required in order to obtain and maintain trademark rights (whether “common law” or a federally-registered).  Like all good things, however, use of many trademarks eventually comes to an end.  Once-popular brand names go out of fashion, companies are […]

The End [of EU trademark law as we know it] is Nigh!

O.K., that may be overstating things a bit, but big changes are on the horizon for trademarks in the EU.  As background: member nations of the EU maintain their own trademark regulations and registration systems, and are also part of a separate EU body called the “Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market” (“OHIM”), which […]

Go West (and East, North or South), Young Brand. Part 2 – Planning Ahead

We can’t take it any longer. We HAVE to tell you more about filing foreign trademark applications, if only to answer the question that we are asked the most frequently regarding it (besides “How much will it cost?”). “Why? I only offer my products/services in the U.S.” When considering whether filing foreign trademark applications is […]

Someone is using the exact same mark as me. I’m suing them!

As one of my law school professors used to say, “Well, wait a minute.”  As in all areas of the law, success in a trademark lawsuit is anything but a given, no matter how “airtight” a case you think you have.  There are a variety of factors involved in deciding whether to institute formal litigation […]