Follow Us
Call 855-808-4530 or email Gro[email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Many trademark practitioners have noted the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s recent penchant for issuing refusals to register trademarks on the ground of failure to function as a trademark. In a recent precedential decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, In re Brunetti, 2022 U.S.P.Q.2d 764 (TTAB Aug 22, 2022), the Board provided some initial guidance on how it will evaluate failure-to-function refusals going forward. Whether or not by design, the Board could not have chosen a more colorful case to designate as precedential. Brunetti involved an applicant, who was a well-known protagonist of the Office (Erik Brunetti), and his efforts to register the mark FUCK for a wide variety of goods and services. Because Brunetti failed to overcome the Office’s prima facie showing that FUCK failed to function as a mark (i.e., was not perceived by the consuming public as an indicator of source), the Board ultimately denied registration.
Continue reading by getting
started with a subscription.
By Christopher P. Bussert
This article explores developments (both positive and negative) in the post-TMA world in which courts have wrestled with implementation of the presumption of irreparable harm in trademark cases.
Federal District Court Denies Copyright to AI-Generated Art Piece
By Richard L. Hathaway
Recognizing that U.S. “copyright law protects only works of human creation,” the court determined that the Copyright Office “acted properly in denying copyright registration for a work created absent any human involvement.”
Supreme Court to Consider If Lanham Act’s Name Trademark Prohibition Violates First Amendment
By Catherine Nyarady and Crystal Parker
This case has important implications not only for trademark registrations, but also potentially in determining collisions between trademark rights, rights of publicity, and freedom of speech considerations in future cases.
Trade Secret Protection for Consumer-Facing Products
By Stephen M. Kramarsky and John Millson
Intellectual property laws, including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws can provide avenues for companies to protect their IP. But it’s not always clear what assets are protectable and what are not.
Copyright © ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
