Daniel Agius

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On October 23, 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “PTAB”) invalidated a design patent over the shape of an aircraft lavatory, because it had been on-sale prior to the filing date. U.S. Design Patent No. D764,031 S (“the ‘031 patent”) concerned the ornamental design of an aircraft lavatory where the walls were slightly…

The First Amendment and Trademarks: Protecting “The Thought We Hate”

Can the federal government refuse to register offensive trademarks?  The Supreme Court held yesterday that it cannot.  Although the case did not directly involve the “Washington Redskins” trademark registration, discussed in previous blog articles in this space, it effectively gave the Redskins a victory…

All too often parties lack the foresight to contractually address potential intellectual property issues.  When those issues bubble over into full-fledged disputes, it often falls to the courts to fill the void in contractual language.  Two primary tests have been used by courts to determine ownership of an unregistered trademark between a manufacturer and distributor…