Eleventh Circuit: No likely confusion between stylized logos for competing welding companies In a decision this week, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment of no service mark infringement. The court held that there were no triable issues of fact as to whether the companies' service marks were confusingly similar, the existence of actual confusion, and the defendant's intent.More details of Welding Servs., Inc. v. […] Continue Reading →
Injunction against trademark “disparagement” reversed; no such claim under the Lanham Act In a decision yesterday, the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction preventing an individual from "making any comments that could be construed as to disparage" a possible trademark and logo. The court concluded that the injunction was improperly granted since the plaintiff failed to present a likelihood of success on the merits by failing to […] Continue Reading →
First Circuit: “M4” generic for certain carbine firearms, summary judgment affirmed The First Circuit on Friday held that, in the context of certain carbine firearms, the term "M4" was generic, and therefore not subject to trademark protection. The court found that notwithstanding a registration on the principal register, the evidence presented was such that the only reasonable inference was that M4 was generic in the minds […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: Disinfectable not trademarkable The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday issued a decision regarding whether the term "disinfectable" could serve as a trademark in the context of nail files and related goods. The court held that it could not, as disinfectable was the generic term for a product that is capable of being disinfected. As a result, the […] Continue Reading →
The Truth Be Told, “Lawyers” are Generic The truth is finally out — "Lawyers" are generic. Really, "lawyers.com" is generic. In a case before the Federal Circuit, the Court affirmed the holding of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) which denied registration of the mark LAWYERS.COM for providing an online interactive database featuring information exchange in the fields of law, legal […] Continue Reading →