Trademarks Archives - Jafari Law Group | California Employment Litigation & Patent Lawyers

Should You Hire an Attorney to Register Your Trademark?

October 06 2021

If you’re seeking to trademark intellectual property for your company or brand, whether it’s a product name, a logo, or a slogan, you may be tempted to do it yourself. And provided you live in the U.S., you’re eligible to do so without the help of an attorney. But going it alone isn’t always a …

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What is the Difference Between a Trademark, a Patent, and a Copyright?

September 17 2021

When you or a group of collaborators come up with a work, invention, or idea through your own creativity and original thought process, you’ve created intellectual property. Unfortunately, unlike most physical property, intellectual property is easily stolen or misattributed, which can result in its rightful owners being denied credit and compensation for their work. People …

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Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks: The Basics

December 17 2018

The economy of California has always been greatly dependent upon the ideas of inventors and entrepreneurs. Entertainment, technology, fashion, and many other industries are dependent upon new ideas. These ideas are intellectual property. Their owners have legal property rights in them, and it is important for these property rights to be protected. For decades, inventors …

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Should You License Your Trademark?

November 19 2018

When you registered a trademark for your brand, you likely did so to prevent others from misusing it and misleading consumers. So why do so many companies give others permission to use their trademark by issuing a trademark license? If the situation is right, licensing your trademark can be beneficial and lucrative, and the following …

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Swatch Unable to Stop Beehive's Watch “SWAP” Trademark

June 04 2014

If you were browsing for watches or watch accessories and saw a watch brand, SWATCH, sitting aside another watch brand, SWAP, would it be plausible to think the two were in some way related? The District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia doesn’t think so, and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit …

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“Big Game” vs. Super Bowl: A Trademark Matter

January 29 2014

As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, more and more commercials reference the “Big Game” in attempt to boost sales by indirect association with the hugely popular finale to the American football season. Watch enough television leading up to the Super Bowl and you might begin think that the only products sold in all of the United …

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Trademarks: Sometimes Calling It Quits Is the Best Course of Action

January 20 2014

Last year, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in a trademark case that in essence had nothing to do with trademarks. The original battle at the lower court was over a line of shoes and trademark owned by Nike called Air Force 1s, which another company, Already, claimed was an invalid trademark. Already designs …

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Petronas v. GoDaddy.com: No Contributory Liability for Cybersquatting Under the ACPA

December 09 2013

In a case involving the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (the ACPA), the Ninth Circuit Court agreed with a lower court’s decision that the ACPA does not provide a cause of action for contributory cybersquatting. Under the ACPA, cybersquatting is defined as registering, trafficking, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from …

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Doctrine of Tacking Key in Trademark Win for Defendant Hana Bank

December 04 2013

Last week, I wrote an article discussing the disputed Cracker Barrel moniker in use by Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. In it, I noted “if you want to avoid unnecessary and costly legal action, make sure your brand is unmistakably yours.” A court decision released in late November drove home …

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Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co.: Permanent Injunction Unlikely

November 27 2013

Back in July of 2012, a jury returned a powerful verdict against Samsung, in a suit filed by Apple (AAPL), claiming Samsung infringed on several patents, and diluted Apple’s trade dress for the iPhone. That jury found that 26 Samsung smartphones and tablets infringed Apple patents and that six Samsung smartphones diluted Apple’s registered iPhone …

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Court Affirms Preliminary Injunction Against Food Sales Infringing Trademarked "Cracker Barrel" Name

November 27 2013

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT), a company whose mention instantly conjures up images of arguably delicious and unfortunately lactose-filled cheese, recently obtained a preliminary injunction stopping Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL) from selling food products in grocery stores using the Cracker Barrel moniker. To simplify matters, the court and the relevant parties acronymized Cracker …

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In re City of Houston: Cities try (and fail) to trademark their seals

October 05 2013

The United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) recently refused registrations for trademark filed by the city of Houston, Texas and the District of Columbia, which sought to register marks that included official government seals. The court cited Section 2(b) of the Lanham Act, which prohibits registration of a proposed trademark that consists of or …

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