Three trademark applications were filed that include the term BLUE IVY CARTER.  One of those, 85526099, was signed by Beyonce.  That application received an office action after one week.  Did your eyebrows just go up?  OK, TDR doesn’t reflect it, but our guess is that the applicant filed a “Petition to Make Special“:

Use this form to petition to advance initial examination of an application out of its regular order. A petition to make “special” must be accompanied by the petition fee ($100), an explanation of why special action is requested, and a statement of facts that shows that special action is justified. The statement of facts must be supported by an affidavit or declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20. The most common reasons for granting petitions to make “special” are the existence of actual or threatened infringement, pending litigation, or the need for a registration as a basis for securing a foreign registration. See TMEP §1710 et seq.

In view of two other BLUE IVY CARTER applications (and, I’m speculating, a lot of infringement), there are special circumstances here.  BTW, the office action refers to Blue Ivy as a famous infant (a category perhaps deserving its own Article in the Paris Convention).

Given that there are two seemingly unauthorized applications for LINSANITY and one for LINSANE, Jeremy Lin should look into this as well.

Now, on to more important matters.

We examined the website of opposing counsel today and apparently that firm is lorem ipsum dolor.

Trademark Reporter:  US Annual Review: The 64th Year of Administration of the US TM (Lanham) Act  by Ted Davis and John Welch.

From a patent case:

Defendants move to prevent [plaintiff] from using pejorative terms or phrases at trial. Specifically, Defendants contend that [plaintiff] is likely to repeat allegations that she has made in the press that [defendants] “stole” her bra. Courts may prohibit the use of pejorative terms under FRE 403 “when such categorizations [are] inflammatory and unnecessary to prove a claim.” Aristocrat Leisure v Deutsche Bank Trust, no 045 Civ 10014 (PKL), 2009 WL 3111766 at *7 (SDNY sept 28, 2009) (prohibiting use of the term ‘tax haven”); AIA Holdings v Lehman Bros, no 97 civ 4978(LMM), 2002 WL 31655287 at *2-3 (SDNY Nov 21 2002) (prohibiting use of the phrase ‘rat trading’).  The Court agrees that characterizing [defendants’] actions as ‘stealing’ risks prejudicing the jury and will not aid in its finding facts.

Plew v Limited Brands, et. al., 08 civ 3741 (LTS)(MHD) (SDNY Feb 6, 2012)

From here.

From Meltwater News’ website:

Meltwater News is more than a traditional media monitoring service, combining the industry’s broadest search capabilities, exclusive analytical tools and a consultative relationship with its clients, Meltwater News delivers the business critical information that executives in organizations worldwide require to gain, and maintain, their competitive edge.

With Meltwater News’ expansive international coverage and robust search capabilities, users can find the information they need, when they need it, via an easy-to-use, Web-based interface. Meltwater News’ interactive analytical capabilities enable users to get even more value from their media mentions by evaluating trends, mapping press activity, identifying target markets and measuring the ROI of marketing and public relations campaigns.

 

AP has now sued for copyright infringement and ‘hot news’ misappropriation.

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