Attorneys’ Fees included under “All the Expenses” On June 23, 2017, the Federal Circuit released a decision allowing the USPTO to recover attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 145. According to § 145: “[a]n applicant dissatisfied with the decision of the [PTAB] . . . may, unless appeal has been taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the […] Continue Reading →
Gene Simmons Attempts to Trademark Iconic Hand Symbol Kiss lead singer, Gene Simmons, recently filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register the famous rock ‘n’ roll “horns” hand gesture as a trademark. Simmons filed the application June 9th to register “a hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended […] Continue Reading →
Say What You Will About Trademarks Simon Tam chose to name his band “The Slants” with the intent to reclaim the term and erase the denigrating connotations associated with it. However, he was confronted with the denial of his trademark application based on the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act. This raised an interesting issue of whether the disparagement clause violates […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court Rules for Biosimilar Applicants under the BPCIA On June 12, 2017, the Supreme Court released a decision in Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen Inc., which involved a case emerging out of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act. The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA) provides an abbreviated pathway for biosimilar products of already licensed biological products (reference products) […] Continue Reading →
Patent Applications – What Happens After They Are Filed? You have worked with an MVS attorney to get your invention covered by a patent application, and the application has been filed. Great! Have you ever wondered what happens to the application at the US Patent Office? Part of it depends on if you have filed a provisional application or a utility application. If you […] Continue Reading →
Does Play-Doh Smell Distinct? Hasbro Thinks So Most of the time when we think of trademarks, we think of words, slogans, and logos. But trademarks can be more than that. Some companies have been able to obtain trademarks for colors. For example, Tiffany and Co. has registrations for its Tiffany Blue, an example of which is Reg. No. 2,359,351. Similarly, 3M has a […] Continue Reading →
‘Fame’ is Not All-Or-Nothing The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) vacated a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) denying a petition by Joseph Phelps Vineyards, LLC for cancellation of a trademark held by Fairmont Holdings, LLC. The CAFC held that the Board used an incorrect standard when analyzing the ‘fame’ factor for […] Continue Reading →