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Atlanta, GeorgiaTelephone: (678) 420-9300
E-mail: [email protected]://www.needlerosenberg.com
By: Bill Needle
Trademarks
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Web Sites for Patents, Trademarks and
Copyrightswww.uspto.gov
(Patents and Trademarks)
www.loc.gov/copyright(Copyrights)
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A trademark or “brand name”comprises “anything” that identifies the source of goods or services from those of another when used in commerce.
What is a Trademark?
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Trademarks can be:
A Word or Group of Words
•COKE
•CABBAGE PATCH KIDS
•DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT
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Trademarks can be:Symbols, Pictorial Representations or Designs
•NIKE “Swoosh”
•LACOSTE Alligator
•Five interlocking Olympic rings
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Trademarks can be:
A Combination of Word(s) Plus Symbol, Pictorial Representations or Designs
CHURCH’S DOMINO
FLORIDA CRYSTALS
NESTEA
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Trademarks can be:
Numeral(s), Letter(s) or Combinations Thereof
•501 Jeans
•IBM computers
•LOTUS 1-2-3
•V-8 Juice
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Trademarks can be:
A Shape of a Container or Packaging
•COKE bottle
•Conical top of CROSS pen
•TOBLERONE chocolate packaging
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Trademarks can be:
•Orange for THE HOME DEPOT stores
•Pink for Owens-Corning’s insulation
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Trademarks can be:
Chimes for NBC
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Trademarks can be:
Lion roar for MGM
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The mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant’s motorcycles, produced by V-Twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use. (Application Serial No. 74/485,223)
Trademarks can be:
HARLEY DAVIDSON
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Trademarks can be:
“The mark consists of a high impact, fresh flower fragrance reminiscent of Plumeria blossoms” •U.S. Reg. No. 1,639,128
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Trademarks can be:
•AMAZON.COM
•PRICELINE.COM
•YAHOO.COM
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Trademarks vs. Service Marks
•Trademarks identify products or goods.
•Service marks identify services.
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Service Marks
•GOLDEN ARCHES Design
•MCDONALD’S
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Trademarks
•GOLDEN ARCHES Design
•BIG MAC
•MCDONALD’S Plus Design
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Other Types of Marks
•Collective Marks: used by members of a group or organization to identify the goods they produce or services they render.
Example: ILGU (International Ladies Garment Union)
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Other Types of Marks
•Certification Marks: certify that products or services are manufactured or provided by others have certain qualities.
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Certification Marks
Example: VIDALIA for onions (“The certification mark is intended to be
used by persons authorized by certifier, and will certify that the goods in connection with which it is used are yellow Granex type onions and are grown by authorized growers within the Vidalia onion production area in Georgia as defined in the Georgia Vidalia Onion Act of 1986.”)
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Trade Names vs. Trademarks
• A trade name is not a trademark: McDonald’s Corporation vs. McDONALD’S
•Trade names are not registrable in the Trademark Office.
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Types of MarksStrength
•Highest
•None
• Fanciful
• Arbitrary
• Suggestive
• Merely Descriptive
• Generic
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Fanciful
•XEROX
•KODAK
•EXXON
• CLOROX
• KOTEX
• POLAROID
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Arbitrary
•COMMAND hair care products
•SHELL gasoline
•APPLE computers
• ICE CREAM chewing gum
• GUESS? Jeans
• DIE-HARD batteries
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Suggestive
• CROSSTALK software
• STRONGHOLD nails
• 7-ELEVEN retail store service
• COPPERTONE tanning products
• RAPID SHAVE shaving cream
• GLEEM toothpaste
• ROACH MOTEL roach bait
• WOOLITE wool cleaner
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Merely Descriptive
•CHAP-STICK chapped lip treatment
•SHEAR PLEASURE beauty salon
•BEEF AND BREW restaurants
•HOUR AFTER HOUR deodorant
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Generic•aspirin•cellophane•cola•cornflakes•cube steak•dry ice
•escalator•high octane•kerosene•lanolin•linoleum
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Generic
•mimeograph
•murphy bed
•nylon
•raisin bran
•refrigerator
•shredded wheat
• thermos
• trampoline
•yo-yo
•zipper
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The Term “Brilliant” would be:
•Merely descriptive for diamonds.
•Suggestive for furniture polish.
•Arbitrary for applesauce.
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Misconceptions
•Registration of the mark in a state as a trademark or service mark does not necessarily mean it is permissible to use the mark everywhere.
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Rights in a Mark are Maintained by:
•Continued use of the mark.
•Renewing a federal registration every 10 years.
•Policing the mark.
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Rights in a Mark are LostLost by:
• Failing to continue to use the mark in commerce.
• A licensor failing to maintain adequate control over the quality of the licensed goods/service.
• Failing to police third-party uses of infringing marks.
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Types of Trademark Applications
• Actual use of mark in interstate commerce; and
• Intent-to-use the mark in interstate commerce.
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No - No’sNo - No’s•An assignment of a
trademark, absent the “goodwill of the business connected therewith”, is invalid –
“assignment in gross. ”
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No - No’sNo - No’s
•Can’t assign an intent-to-use trademark application.
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No - No’sNo - No’s
•Licensing of a trademark, without quality control provisions, results in a “naked” license.
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The Care and Feeding of Marks
•Always use the mark as a proper adjective which modifies a noun, such as CABBAGE PATCH KIDS dolls, LEVI’S jeans, XEROX copy machines.
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•Never use a mark in the possessive form, in the plural form or as a verb.
•Avoid prefixes, suffixes, additions or deletions of the mark.
The Care and Feeding of Marks
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The Care and Feeding of Marks
•Distinguish the mark in use from surrounding text: distinctive type face, quotation marks, all capital letters or capitalize the first letter of each word of the mark.
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• For Registered Marks: Use “®” or the phrase “Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office” or “Reg. U.S. Pat. TM. Off.”
The Care and Feeding of Marks
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The Care and Feeding of Marks
For unregistered marks: “TM” “SM” or an asterisk indicating “A trademark/service mark of XYZ Corporation.”
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Thank You!Atlanta, Georgia
Telephone: (404) 688-0770E-mail:
[email protected]://www.needlerosenberg.com
