Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
What happens when a large newcomer to a geographic region with a federal registration for its service mark encounters a smaller pre-existing business in that region with prior use of a similar mark for the same services? Enjoinable reverse infringement results, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. v. Citizens National Bank of Evans City, Case Nos. 03-2868 and 03-3175 (3d Cir. 2004).
When Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG), a subsidiary holding company of the Royal Bank of Scotland, bought the retail banking operations of Mellon Bank in July 2001, it converted all of the Mellon branches in Pennsylvania to “Citizens Bank” branches. However, a number of those branches were located near (some on the same streets as) branches of Citizens National Bank of Evans City (CNBEC), founded in 1878 and doing business through 16 branches in northwestern Pennsylvania. Federally chartered in 1907, CNBEC has branches in Butler, north Allegheny and Armstrong counties. It refers to itself as “Citizens” in advertising and promotional materials and in customer communications. In addition to the former Mellon branches in Pennsylvania, CFG has hundreds of branches throughout the east coast of the United States. It advertises itself as “one of the largest banks in the world.” It also has a federal registration for the service mark CITIZENS BANK, issued Aug. 28, 2001. CNBEC has not registered the service marks CITIZENS or CITIZENS NATIONAL BANK.
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.