2002

For those of you who can’t afford name creation firms, this free tool can be re-purposed to serve as a generator of possible trademarks and trading names.  Thanks to dack.com.  Don’t forget to search the mark you choose for availability

Two readers have questioned a comment I made about Judge Posner’s remark in Ty v. Perryman that THERMOS no longer functions as a trademark.  Yes, the word mark THERMOS no longer functions as a trademark for vacuum containers for liquids (which is old news).  What I was thinking when I said that the owners of the THERMOS trademark would…

Back in April I asked on the INTA ListServ: “What are the oldest trademarks in the world still in use?”  Now, the INTA Bulletin  (available to members only) is running a two part article on the oldest registered trademarks (slightly different concept).

In Australia, in 1905 a pine tree logo, still in use by…

Verisign, which still encourages broad ccTLD filing programs as a form of brand protection, and also offers to renew brand owners’ existing portfolios for them, has not renewed NETSOL.CO.UK. (Verisign purchased and re-named Network Solutions, and still maintains netsol.com). The new owner has a sense of humor.  Thanks to Volokh for this.

If you enter…

Were I to file for TRADEMARK BLOG as a trademark, and if the PTO  were to refuse the application under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) on the grounds that TRADEMARK BLOG  merely describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the relevant goods/services, then I would proffer a copy of this article from…

Another pop-up lawsuit, this time brought by Weight Watchers regarding a competitor’s use of the WhenU online advertising service.   Via Newsday.

The pop-up, meta-tag and keyword lawsuits will define the boundary of “contextual” or “Targeted” marketing.  The Internet creates amazing opportunities for efficiently reaching a target market.  However problems arise when someone seeks to…