Trademark

By Breanna Pendilton | amdlawgroup.com    As mentioned in a previous blog, British luxury shirt retailer Thomas Pink filed an infringement action about a year ago against Victoria’s Secret with a court in London, alleging that the Victoria’s Secret PINK line confuses customers by marketing and selling products under the label “PINK” which is also a name under the Thomas Pink brand.  Well, the verdict (or should I say “the secret”) is out!  Judge Colin Birss ruled against Victor

By Tasha Schmidt | amdlawgroup.com When you think of a KitKat, what do you think of? Do you automatically think of the candy bar and imagine the “four-fingered shape?” This is what the latest ruling decided by the Board of the Appeal at the EU’s Community Trade Mark Office established. As result of this ruling, rival companies, which are producing similar types of candy bars and chocolates, will not be allowed to use the design. It was decided that the four-fingered shape, created in 1

By Caroline Lau | amdlawgroup.com  Earlier this past June, designer shoe company Christian Louboutin filed a lawsuit in a New York court against Charles Jourdan, also a French shoemaker, for trademark infringement. The unmistakable red lacquered sole is Louboutin’s trademark, over which Louboutin asserted infringement on the part of Jourdan and the retailer DSW for selling red-soled shoes. Accusing the Jourdan shoes of being “counterfeit”, Louboutin also targeted DSW for selling the sh

By Ann Marie Sallusti | amdlawgroup.com Trademarks are not just a mark on a product.  Trademarks make products identifiable to consumers and are essentially the product that is being sold.  Trademarks “may” be federally registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but registration is not mandatory in the United States. Unlike most countries, the United States follows the first to use rule when protecting trademark rights. The first to use rule protects the tr

Many fashion and apparel brands are looking to expand their market internationally, and they have their sights set on China. Although China is an infamously difficult place to do business, here are 8 ways to help empower your chances of success competing in the Chinese market.   Plan and act early. Filing a trademark application takes a great deal of time. It’s in your best interest to act quickly. It’s also wise to identify and potential conflicts before you enter the market.It's b

By Eliana Rocchi | amdlawgroup.com The expression “Public domain” is generally used with reference to the works that belong to everyone and are available for public use. The concept comes from copyright law. It identifies those creative works that are not protected by copyright and thus may be used freely by the public. In other words anyone can copy them or modify them or generally use them in any way they wish. But when does that happen? Nowadays, copyrights in a work are acquired au

By  Aurelia Mitchell Durant, Esquire | amdlawgroup.com Trademark protection has many benefits for business owners. Although it is technically true that you acquire some trademark protection in the United States simply by using the mark it is best to register the trademark.  By registering your trademark on the Principal Register you are enhancing the rights you already acquired when you started using the trademark.  Here are some of the significant benefits:   Nationwide Priority Witho

By Breanna Pendilton | amdlawgroup.com The Michael Kors brand is arguably one of the most expensive and well-known labels in today’s fashion world. But these same characteristics, (expensive and well-known) are exactly what’s destroying the reputation of this brand. Outlet stores and small business are jacking down the prices, and while the good ole’ Michael Kors’ stores still exist, customers are much more apt to buying them cheaper at other discount stores and retailers. The word

By Ozelle Martin | amdlawgroup.com There is a well-known professional football team in the National Football League (NFL) called the Washington Redskins, and its logo features a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress. While the franchise has been in existence for over 80 years, there has been much debate surrounding the connotation of the term “redskins.” Moreover, a quick search of the Oxford dictionary defines the term as “an American Indian” with a note that the term is de

It is easy to confuse a trademark with a copyright because they are both in the intellectual property field of law. It is important for small business owners to know the difference between the two to protect their products and/or services.        A trademark can be a word, symbol, and/or design, and can also refer to service marks.  Trademarks and service mark simply allow a customer know where the goods and/or service came from.  Sometimes, a customer will want to continue buying from

By Sophie Sun | Editor: Kristen Daly | www.amdlawgroup.com One mistake that an investor may make during domain name registration is the registration of a trademark-infringing domain name. Such a domain name causes several questions to arise: what is the intent of the registrant at the time of registering that domain name? If the registrant registers a domain name and has good faith intent to create a website in one of those areas, does he or she have to worry about registering the domain name

By Sindy Wenjin Ding | amdlawgroup.com Are you a user of “Hangouts” on your smartphone? Google is having trouble to keep using “Hangouts” as the name of its newly launched video-focused social media app. A California-based company, Hanginout, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Google, Inc. in late November 2013, claiming that Google, Inc. has infringed its trademark for its video-focused social media app. The smaller company located in Carlsbad claims that the first use of "Hanginout" in com

(By Kelsey Laugel – www.amdlawgroup.com) At the 2015 Billboard Music Awards in May, Nasty Gal, an American-based retailer that specializes in providing more affordable versions of designer clothing, claimed credit for Taylor Swift’s white Balmain jumpsuit. For comparison, the average Balmain jumpsuit can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 while the Nasty Gal version retails for $78. After copying Balmain’s design and then tweeting to claim credit for it, Nasty Gal received instantaneous

Tasha Schmidt, Staff Writer, AMD Law Muti Time Machine Inc, v. Amazon.com deals with the question of whether Amazon’s search results violate trademark law. Multi Time Machine  sued Amazon for copyright infringement. For those of us who are familiar with Amazon, we have probably found ourselves searching for something on Amazon, adding it to our shopping bag, and then proceeding to find another ten items we would also like to buy. There is no doubt that Amazon benefits customers in th

By Gabrielle Sherwood|www.amdlawgroup.com Cannabis: patentable but not trademarkable Cannabis is legal for recreational or medicinal use in almost 30 states, and this number is likely to grow. However, cannabis remains illegal under federal law. As a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will not register trademarks for retailers of cannabis, or for products that contain cannabis. However, what is especially interesting is that the USPTO will grant patents involv