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The Intellectual Property StrategistFeaturesIntellectual PropertyLitigationTrademarks

The Trademark That Got His Goat

By Mary A. Donovan
February 01, 2020

In a recent trademark cancellation case that has drawn "human interest" attention in the news, the plaintiff, a lawyer named Todd C. Bank, appealed an adverse decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Todd C. Bank v. Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik, Inc., No. 2019-1880, ___F3d___ (Fed. Cir 2019), 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36357 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 9, 2019).

Bank was not "kidding" when he expressed his opinion that the registered mark, described as "goats on a roof of grass," is demeaning to goats which, in turn, is offensive to Bank. See Fig. 1 below.

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