Craft beer is awesome, but a rising tide of craft beer trademark disputes is not nearly as awesome. With the happy proliferation of new breweries has come a little bit of a proliferation of trademark disputes over the names of beers and breweries. That’s enough to...
Often, filing an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) can be the first step in a longer process; if the trademark application has any problems, the USPTO will issue an “Office Action”. An Office Action lets an applicant know that the...
It is possible to get an audio trademark. Certain sounds are associated with certain products and services. Think of any commercial jingles, or the startup sound for a Mac. The human mind will associate sounds with brands, and when that happens, trademark law plays a...
The best time to think about the legal aspects of your brand and trademark is when you pick the mark, before you invest marketing money or try to get it registered. That’s when it’s time to consider the trademark “spectrum of distinctiveness” of brands and how that...
Smart brand owners want to register their trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Doing so gives them a great deal of protection to ensure that someone else will not encroach upon their distinctive brand. However, before committing to...
One of the key things to know about trademarks is that they are adjectives and not nouns. This matters because the value of a trademark – and thus a brand – comes from the consumers recognition of a trademark as something that distinguishes your product from others on...
