Naming your business is one of the most exciting steps in creating your brand identity, but it’s also a critical moment for making smart legal decisions. The name you choose will represent your company in the marketplace—for better or worse. What many new business owners don’t realize is that choosing a name without considering legal factors can lead to trademark …
Sour Grapes. When Similar Names Create Confusion
Stag’s Leap Wine vs. Stags’ Leap: A Tale of Two Wineries Stag’s Leap Wine, product of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars rose to prominence in 1973 when it competed against wines around the world in the Judgement of Paris and won. At the time it came as a shock that an American wine could compete against a French wine. This …
What is the Supplemental Register for Trademarks?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has two registers for trademarks: supplemental and principal. The supplemental register is reserved for descriptive, surname, and geographical marks that do not qualify for the principal register. Ideally you will be on the principal register, but sometimes, you are asked to be on the supplemental register. You can make arguments against the …
Can I Trademark the Zia?
Us New Mexicans are well aware of the ZIA. It appears on our State flag, in the design of the State capital building in Santa Fe, and is used in numerous other places, by both the government and private entities. But most importantly, the Zia symbol belongs to the Zia Pueblo, and is a sacred religious symbol, having been used …
I Received an Office Action for My Trademark Application.
What do I do now? Oftentimes, an office action will be issued by the USPTO after you’ve filed your trademark with one or more rejections. An office action will ostensibly always have a response deadline of 6 months. Some of the rejections are non-substantive whereby the mark is not necessarily rejected, but a response must be submitted in order for …
What is Trademark Infringement?
A trademark is any word, design, symbol or phrase, that identifies the source of a particular product or service. For example, “Apple Computer” doesn’t indicate a computer generally. It indicates a computer produced by Apple Computer Corporation. The golden arches in front of a McDonald’s Restaurant doesn’t indicate “hamburgers,” but hamburgers produced by McDonald’s Corporation. Many business owners get confused …
