Trademark

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 Breanna Pendilton | amdlawgroup.com It is important as a designer that you protect the image and reputation of your brand.  In other words, you want the product that is hanging in the stores to be the product that you produced in the factory; nothing less and nothing more.  This seems to be a common problem with “off the rack” designers.  Even though you can no longer monitor the day to day whereabouts of your designs after it leaves your supervision, you still have rights which

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 Breanna Pendilton | amdlawgroup.com Last month, small Atlanta-based shoe designer, Antonio Brown, sued big time company, Louis Vuitton, for trademark infringement.  Since the earlier months of 2013, Brown’s sneaker collection has been known for its distinctive metal plate placed across the toe box of its shoes.  In February of this year, Louis Vuitton’s new “On the Road” collection made its debut with an all too familiar metal plate, placed right across the toe of the shoe. Brown

By Gloria Han | amdlawgroup.com Chanel, the corporation, claimed that Chanel’s Salon, LLC and Chanel Jones committed trademark infringement and trademark dilution of its brand name CHANEL. Because Chanel Jones used the trade names CHANEL’S SALON and CHANEL’S COSMETOLOGY SALON without Chanel’s permission, the industry filed a lawsuit alleging that she impinged on the company’s intellectual property rights. Prior to the lawsuit, Chanel sent a letter requesting Chanel Jones to change t

By Aurelia Mitchell Durant, Esquire | www.amdlawgroup.com Your trademark, like your name, is your identity, because, as a solopreneur, your business is yours and yours alone. And unlike your personal name, which you most probably did not choose, you worked and thought long and hard before you decided on your business trademark. You should have chosen a name that is unique, and that cannot be confused with the trademark of any other business, whether in a field similar to yours or those that hav

By Diana Chan | amdlawgroup.com In trademark law, the tacking doctrine allows an existing trademark owner to modify its mark without abandoning ownership of the original trademark.  The key to allowing the modification without abandonment or loss of priority is continuity. In other words, the mark must retain a common element that symbolizes a continuing commercial impression.  The modern test of continuity, or the “legal equivalents” rule, requires the mark to create the same commerci

By Sindy Wenjin Ding | amdlawgroup.com The Fashion Law Institute’s 4th Annual Symposium entitled “The spectrum of Style” was held in Fordham Law School in New York on Apr 4. I attended the symposium as a Fashion Law practitioner at AMD LAW, as well as a Fordham Law alumna. The Symposium owns high regards in fashion law industry nationwide, and as expected, it attracted many serious fashion law experts, partners in notable firms, executives from various departments and companies, fashi

By Hollyn Randolph | Editor: Kristen Daly | www.amdlawgroup.com Licensing is a great way for businesses to expand their brand. When the decision to license is made, it is important to pay attention to the licensing agreement. Creating an effective licensing agreement requires some key components. Licensing is a contractual right that allows businesses to control, manage and protect their intellectual property. An effective licensing agreement contains basic components but also allows

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

Imagine a publishing firm based in the United States called “PJD Publishing” (a fictitious company). At PJD, they specialize in novels of fictions, and children’s books. To protect the creative ingenuity of their authors, PJD has copyrighted all of their works. However, copyright laws in foreign countries work differently than those in the United States. For example, in Canada, the dissemination of digital files is legal as long as the distributor is not making a profit. In the United Stat

By Ann Marie Sallusti | amdlawgroup.com Unlike most countries, the United States follows the first to use rule when protecting trademark rights. This rule states that the trademark rights belong to the first party who uses the trademark of a certain product or service in commerce.  In the United States, federal registration of a mark is not mandatory but can save time, money and prevent future infringement problems. Most countries enforce the first to file rule, which protects the trademark ri

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 Aurelia Mitchell Durant, Esquire and Sindy Ding-Voorhees, Esquire Bravo to all the small business owners that have the bravery, vision and drive to create something incredible and novel in the marketplace. Every business starts out from an idea. No matter where you are in the stage of solidifying your business idea or executing your business plan, intellectual property is a substantial part of the plan and you want to timely and correctly protect this valuable asset, especially as you try

By Bryan Salvadore | amdlawgroup.com The fashion brand, Ralph Lauren, well-known for its “Polo Player” logo recently won a trademark battle against FreshSide. Back In late 2009, FreshSide Ltd. applied to register a trademark with OHIM, the EU body responsible for Community Trademark registrations. FreshSide, which does business as “Chuck” applied to register a mark consisting of a polo player on a bicycle. Ralph Lauren swiftly filed an opposition to FreshSide’s application for the P