Melissa E. Scott

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Yesterday, the USPTO issued an alert regarding emails that U.S. attorneys have been receiving from unlicensed persons offering to pay attorneys in exchange for use of the attorneys’ bar credentials in trademark filings. The USPTO views such communications as a tool intended to circumvent the U.S. counsel rule.

The USPTO cautioned U.S. attorneys that, by…

On March 17, 2021, in a matter of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held a party appealing a decision of the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) may seek review of the decision in either the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or…

On March 5, 2021, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) issued a precedential decision affirming refusal of SolarWindow Technologies, Inc.’s application to register the word mark POWERCOATINGS. The decision is a cautionary tale, for counsel and applicants alike, of the potential future ramifications of allowing an application to go abandoned following…

On December 27, 2020, Congress signed the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which had rare bipartisan support, into law.

The Act makes substantive changes to the Lanham (Trademark) Act that will better protect the relevant consuming public from confusion regarding the source of goods and services, and implement procedures that the…

On December 1, 2020, the TTAB continued its recent trend of decisions refusing to register marks on the ground of failure-to-function. In another precedential decision, the TTAB refused Applicant Lee Greenwood’s (“Greenwood”) application to register the phrase GOD BLESS THE USA for use in connection with “accent pillows; decorative centerpieces of wood” and…

In a recent precedential decision, the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) affirmed an examining attorney’s failure-to-function refusal as respecting the standard character mark TEXAS LOVE, rejecting the applicant’s argument that the refusal violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by treating Texas citizens differently than citizens of Florida,…

On October 27, 2020, the Federal Circuit affirmed a U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decision canceling Corcamore, LLC’s registration for the mark SPROUT. More specifically, the Federal Circuit concluded that the TTAB correctly found that the challenger to Corcamore’s registration had standing, even though the TTAB applied the incorrect legal standard,…

On September 25, 2020, the TTAB issued a non-precedential decision summarily rejecting an applicant’s attack against an examining attorney’s refusal to register the mark NATURAL LEAF CBD LIVE BETTER NATURALLY & Design for use on and in connection with dietary and nutritional supplements infused with CBD hemp oil extracts. The examining attorney had refused registration…

For years, scam artists have targeted trademark owners with communications that mimic notices from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or other governmental entities.

Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for these fraudulent activities. The USPTO recently reported an uptick in these schemes, as well as a proliferation of new “tools” used…

In the recent decision In re Hop Daddy LLC (Serial No. 88175921), the TTAB reexamined the contours of the doctrine of foreign equivalents.

The USPTO refused Hop Daddy’s application to register the mark SALTY BULL BREWING & Design (with “BREWING” disclaimed) for “Restaurant and bar services; Taproom services; Taproom services featuring beer brewed on premises,”…