Attention brand owners and users of the Amazon Brand Registry: you need to be aware of a scam currently happening at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Scammers are submitting fraudulent requests to change email correspondence addresses for trademarks owned by other parties. As soon as the email address is changed, the scammer
Trademarks
Swan-Shaped Pool Toy Claim Won’t Float, According To Second Circuit
By Nicole Indelicato & William W. Stroever on
Posted in Intellectual Property, Trademarks
Two manufacturers of large inflatable swan-shaped pool floats made a splash in a New York appeals court earlier this month. The Second Circuit rejected a New York company’s attempt to claim exclusive trade dress rights to a swan-shaped pool float, calling the endeavor “impermissibly overbroad.”
In August 2016, Long Island based pool products enterprise, Swimline…
Sculpting Brand Protection with Non-Traditional Trademarks
By William W. Stroever on
Posted in Intellectual Property, Trademarks
Hasbro, Inc. recently made headlines when it received a federal trademark registration for the scent of its Play-Doh product. While it isn’t impossible to register a trademark for a scent, it is rare, and it is a reminder of the many options business owners have to create connections with customers (and even make a…
The New Tax Law May Make Your Patents and Other IP Less Valuable
By David M. Kohane & Juliya L. Ismailov on
One little-publicized part of the new tax law (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017) may negatively affect the value of some patents and other intellectual property. It does so by changing the tax treatment of income from sales of “patents, models and secret formulas or processes” from capital gains to ordinary income.
Prior to…
The First Amendment and Trademarks: Protecting “The Thought We Hate”
By Daniel Agius & David M. Kohane on
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…