Federal Circuit says THE JOINT is merely descriptive without acquired distinctiveness

in Blog

On February 28th, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) decision to refuse registration of two trademark applications belonging to JC Hospitality LLC (JC). Both applications sought to register the mark THE JOINT under different classes of services (Class 41 and Class 43). See In re JC Hospitality. The CAFC agreed with the TTAB that the marks were merely descriptive of JC’s services, and lacked any showing that the marks acquired distinctiveness as source identifiers. The law is not particularly new in this non-precedential decision, although the trademark applicant obviously had a different...

03 March

0 Comments

Sticky

This Week in DC: Buying Unsafe Counterfeits, 5G Security, Blockchain Tech for Small Business and Online Sales Taxes

Posted by coffylawpro

in Blog

This week in our nation’s capital, the House of Representatives hosts a number of committee hearings related to technology and innovation. Various hearings will explore online sales tax impacts on small businesses, unsafe counterfeit products bought by American consumers, uses of blockchain technology among small businesses, issues with veteran electronic health record systems, U.S. Cyber Command’s 2021 budget and the role of advanced nuclear reactors in creating a cleaner economy. Over in the Senate, a pair of hearings on Wednesday will discuss issues with securing the 5G supply chain and data surveillance concerns caused by partnerships between major tech firms...

02 March

0 Comments

Sticky

The Impact of Overturning eBay v. MercExchange

Posted by coffylawpro

in Blog

At a time when most policymakers rightly argue that China and other countries need to do more to clamp down on intellectual property infringement, overturning the four-factor eBay v. MercExchange test would impose new hurdles and increase the PAE problem that Congress and the Supreme Court fought to address over the last two decades.” As anyone who follows the landscape of patent litigation knows, the Supreme Court’s decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC, 547 U.S. 388 (2006) was meant for one primary reason—to combat patent asserted entities (PAEs).[1] It is true that prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in eBay, it was rare for a...

01 March

0 Comments

Sticky

The Fragile Nature of Trade Secrets: Clues from the Courts on How to Keep Them

Posted by coffylawpro

in Blog

Trade secrets have become an increasingly valuable asset to many companies, but compared to other types of intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademarks, they are extremely “fragile,” and require that an owner undertake as many steps as possible to protect their information and be vigilant about the need to protect such information to the fullest extent possible. The failure to do so may lead to a court’s finding in a misappropriation case that the information in question is not protectable as a trade secret. As described below, it is very easy for trade secrets to lose protection under a...

01 March

0 Comments

Sticky

Google Wins Mandamus at Federal Circuit in EDTX Venue Dispute

Posted by coffylawpro

in Blog

The Federal Circuit recently granted a petition for a writ of mandamus to Google LLC (“Google”) finding that venue was improper for a case filed by Super Interconnected Technologies LLC (“SIT”) against Google in the Eastern District of Texas. See In re Google LLC, No. 2019-126, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4588 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 13, 2020) (Before Dyk, Wallach, and Taranto, Circuit Judges) (Order for the Court, Dyk, Circuit Judge) (Concurring opinion, Wallach, Circuit Judge). SIT brought suit against Google in the Eastern District of Texas arguing that venue was proper under the patent venue statute (28 U.S.C. § 1400(b)). SIT filed its suit after the...

March 2020

Federal Circuit says THE JOINT is merely descriptive without acquired distinctiveness

This Week in DC: Buying Unsafe Counterfeits, 5G Security, Blockchain Tech for Small Business and Online Sales Taxes

The Impact of Overturning eBay v. MercExchange

The Fragile Nature of Trade Secrets: Clues from the Courts on How to Keep Them

Google Wins Mandamus at Federal Circuit in EDTX Venue Dispute