Trademark

By Francisco Martinez | www.amdlawgroup.com What cybersquatting is and how to combat it is something all modern-day trademark holders need to understand, especially with the continued global expansion of the internet. Simply put, cybersquatting is when a domain name is registered for trademark, often a well-known mark, by someone other than the owner of the trademark who intends to abuse or misuse the domain name, usually for monetary gain. It was such a rampant problem during the 1990

By Chloe Coska | amdlawgroup.com The famous mouse ears logo is in the middle of a vicious battle between the giant Disney and Deadmau5. The firm has started a legal fight against DJ Deadmau5, pronounce as “Deadmouse” claiming his logo is too similar to their Mickey Mouse ears symbol. Disney has filed papers to prevent the attempt of registration of the mark consisting in a mouse head with black ears, black face, white eyes and white mouth. According to Disney "Applicant’s Mouse Ears

  By Sindy Ding-Voorhees|www.amdlawgroup.com News about Zara is all over the press lately. Zara’s founder, Amancio Ortega, recently surpassed Warren Buffet as the world's second-richest man; several days later, the billionaire was also accused of being one of the most racist. Now, a $40 million discrimination lawsuit claiming he favors hiring employees who are “straight, Spanish and Christian”, has been filed against him. This lawsuit absolutely adds fuel to the flames for Zara,

By Tikwiza Nkowane|www.amdlawgroup.com A federally protected trademark can be retained indefinitely if maintained in accordance with the laws.  After going through the effort of obtaining federal protection of a Trademark, why would you want to forgo those rights by not maintaining it?  Failing to comply with the required maintenance documents can lead to cancellation of the mark being protected under federal law, thus losing the protected rights afforded under statute provided at the feder

By Gabrielle Sherwood|www.amdlawgroup.com How to #Registeryourhashtag A hashtag is any word or words that have the pound (or hash) symbol in front of them. They are used to get certain words to trend on the Internet via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. Anything can be a hashtag. For example, #mybrand, #awesome, #dolls, #trademark, and #fashion. You may be familiar with the recent controversy of Kris Jenner wanting to federally register the hashtag “#proudmam

By Sindy Wenjin Ding | amdlawgroup.com             Although it has long been said the imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, in fashion business, unauthorized “imitations” cost companies immeasurable sums in lost sales and damage to the reputation.[i] Most fashion companies don't welcome, even fear this kind of flattering, when counterfeiters imitates and squat in websites that bear valuable intellectual property of companies or individuals without their permissions. Li

By Tikwiza Nkowane|www.amdlawgroup.com Ever since Twitter used hashtags, the phenomenon took off with a storm and is not letting up.  Businesses and individuals are now using this as a powerful marketing tool to help brand and promote catchy slogans.  As a continuing topic from the blog How to #Registeryourhashtag, once a hashtag is trademarked trademark infringement can occur.  This blog looks at the differences in interpreting when hashtag trademark infringement occurs in the US and Inte

By Caroline Lau | amdlawgroup.com This past June, Apple has filed for a trademark on the name “iWatch” in Taiwan, Japan, Russia and Mexico, and reportedly in Turkey, Chile and Colombia as well. Analysts take the term to imply that a new ‘smart watch’ is in the works to be released by the tech company; however, the trademark applications could just be a protective move to reserve the name itself, or it could signify a different type of product altogether (some have speculated at te

By Gloria Han | amdlawgroup.com Lush is a beauty brand that produces products from fresh organic fruit and vegetables. Their products such as makeup, soap, and face wash are not animal tested and are made fresh by hand with little or no preservative. Lush brand chose not to sell their products on Amazon but when customers searched “lush” into the search bar, similar beauty products sold by Lush appeared in the results. Before resolving the issue in court, Lush trademarked the name “Chri

By Chloe Coska | amdlawgroup.com On December 17th the US Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) amended its regulation regarding certain trademark fees as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The changes will be effective on January 17th 2015 and will be included in the Federal Register Notice. The USPTO and Trademark Public Advisory Committee (‘‘TPAC’’) determined what fees will be reduced in a non-exhaustive list : Fees will be reduced for Trademark, certifica

By Chloe Coska | amdlawgroup.com Everyone is aware of the Ice Bucket Challenge these days. The meme has gone viral on the internet and throughout the world. From celebrities to the girl next door, everybody has been doing the challenge in order to raise awareness to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. The campaign so far has raised $94 million in less than a month. After such a success the non-profit association ALSA, with allegedly the bless

By Sindy Wenjin Ding | amdlawgroup.com With buying power resting at the tips of our fingers, tech savvy and not so tech savvy fashion addicts are able to pursue the internet for all of their fashion fixes. Direct purchasing from the intellectual property owners becomes not so direct in this fast-changing digital era. We read ads, we walk to distributor markets, we click links and give information.  The bridging medium has created such thick clouds that it keeps the consumers from seeing the re

By Diana Chan | amdlawgroup.com Because of the sheer number of people (and potential consumers), businesses are often drawn to the idea of expanding their brand and marketing their products in China. But businesses should be wary when taking their brand to China especially if they have not yet registered their trademark in China. Several big name companies such as Apple, Pfizer, Hermès, Burberry and more recently, Tesla, have struggled to successfully win trademark disputes in China. Chin