The bureau argued that only trademark agencies could represent clients applying for trademarks, and that the trademark law made no mention of law firms acting in this capacity.
But the court relied on a basic principle of most established legal systems, that what is not specifically prohibited should be allowed, and ruled that the trademark law did not prohibit lawyers from acting as agents and that, moreover, a 1997 law governing lawyers said that they could provide any legal service, and that filing trademarks was certainly a legal service.
Siskind, a founding partner at the law firm Harvey Siskind LLP in San Francisco, who isn't involved in the case, says if Macy's doesn't win the case under the doctrines of trademark law, it is possible the retailer may be able to win the case on other grounds, such as unfair competition or false advertising.
WSJ: Basing a Business on an Old Brand? Check the Trademarks
Cabranes restated the primary goal of trademark law, which is enforced under the Lanham Act: To protect consumers against being confused about the origin and quality of a product.
FORBES: Louboutin Wins Protection For Red, But Don't Try To Grab Blue Just Yet
Courts have applied the various facets of unfair competition law to protect fictional characters and, similar to trademark law, prevent the wrongful use of fictional characters in connection with goods and services of third parties.
FORBES: Protecting Fictional Characters: Could You Legally Write A New Harry Potter Novel?
Robbins did some research and discovered that trademark law protected the European products' names, but that the packaging was fair game.
Despite the gauntlet that is the United States Patent and Trademark Office, many of the trademarks which are allowed by the Trademark Office are opposed by some competitor in an administrative law tribunal because they feel the mark violated one of the rules of registration.
FORBES: Gang Green: Rules Are Tightening. Don't Say Green If You Don't Mean Green.
The foundation seeks the return of any profits, as well as the drastic damages prescribed by law for trademark and copyright infringement.
FORBES: Julia Child Foundation Embroiled In Lawsuits About Oven Ads
If the Shell Oil hoax is determined by a court to violate a law (such as trademark infringement), Greenpeace and the Yes Men should man up, accept the verdict and pay the appropriate penalty.
Otherwise, with this case ending by settlement, the Rosetta Stone lawsuit did little to shape trademark law.
The decision, issued on July 22nd by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, concerned an application by the Nanjing Zishi Law Firm to register a trademark on behalf of a Chinese supplier of agricultural products.
If the Fashion Bill is enacted into law, designers would be well-advised to continue pursuing the foregoing copyright and trademark registrations, but would have to reconsider pursuing design patents based on cost considerations and whether the useful life of each relevant design is expected to last more than the three years of copyright protection provided by the Fashion Bill.
Last year, the U.S. adopted a cybersquatting law to prevent trademark infringements.
But how can anyone argue that a law punishing the Redskins for giving offense by stripping a trademark would be anything other than a bill of attainder?
Other claims in the suit included unfair competition and false designation of origin under federal trademark law, as well as trademark infringement, unfair trade practices, and injury to business reputation under Texas law.
Unfair competition is prohibited under common law, state statutes, and the U.S. Trademark Act.
FORBES: Protecting Fictional Characters: Could You Legally Write A New Harry Potter Novel?
So last October the law firm took the unheard-of step of suing the trademark bureau.
The law firm was turned down flat by the government's trademark bureau.
Under South African law as it stood at the time, a company lost its right to the trademark if it languished unused on the books for five years, unless there was a good reason.
Not one of the foreign companies doing business in Vietnam has taken advantage of this law to prosecute infringers of their trademark rights.
Copyright grants extraordinary powers to an owner, including the right to prevent protected works from being sold or even given away, far more protection than trademark law.
应用推荐