The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently released a new plan outlining its proposed changes to trademark filing fees. The proposed plan includes an increase to many of the most common fees associated with trademarks. If approved, the plan can be expected to raise fees by November 2024. What fees are being raised? While fees are being raised across […]
The USPTO has recently announced that starting on December 3, 2022, trademark applicants will now only have 3-months to respond to an Office action. This is now half the time of the current 6-month period. This now creates an urgency among trademark applicants to respond quicker to Office actions, as they only have a few months to respond (as opposed to […]
I have a “heads up” for anyone that has filed a trademark application recently: In a completely unforced error, the United States Patent & Trademark Office may have just exposed your email address to scammers. If you receive an email related to your trademark (that is not from the attorney who filed your application), be very suspicious of it and forward […]
The USPTO has been in existence (in some form) since 1802 and it is only now getting around to registering its own trademarks. So why has the USPTO decided to protect their marks this late in the game? Trademark Scammers are Becoming More Sophisticated As we previously reported in this blog post, trademark scammers are popping up everywhere and they’ve […]
E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Walmart provide consumers with fast access to millions of products, sometimes within days or hours of ordering. However, despite what many consumers might believe, Amazon and Walmart do not sell most of the items being sold on their respective websites. Instead, third-party sellers use Amazon and Walmart’s programs (such as “Fulfilled by Amazon”) to store […]
The U.S. House and Senate recently introduced the “Trademark Modernization Act of 2020” proposing streamlined procedures for eliminated unused trademark registrations. Could the new proceedings help your business reduce the risks and costs of developing a new brand? Bad Registrations Increase Costs for Legitimate Businesses Deciding on a new trademark can be a difficult and excruciating process for a company. […]
Licensing a trademark is one of several ways for a brand-owner to monetize its brand. Brand owners can enter into exclusive, or non-exclusive licensing deals with others to expand into new markets, develop new product lines, or embark on new collaborations. But what kind of risks do parties need to consider when entering into a licensing agreement? A recent ruling issued […]
TRADEMARK QUESTIONS? Gerben IP provides flat fee trademark registration services that include one-on-one client counseling with an experienced attorney. Contact Our Attorneys Update Since Original Post (Feb. 19, 2018): The USPTO filed a petition with the Federal Circuit to re-hear the In re Brunetti case en banc, meaning before the entire Federal Circuit (as opposed to a three-judge panel). Offensive trademarks will remain suspended pending the […]
NEED TO REGISTER YOUR TRADEMARK? Gerben IP has registered over 6,500 trademarks since 2008. Contact our attorneys about our flat-fee trademark search and registration package. Contact Our Attorneys The Federal Circuit held today that the U.S. trademark law’s ban on offensive and derogatory marks is unconstitutional, following a similar decision by the Supreme Court earlier this year. Several months ago, […]
In a decision that will have a huge impact on the United States trademark system, the Supreme Court held that the federal law (the Lanham Act) which allows the USPTO to refuse to register “disparaging” trademarks violated the First Amendment and was unconstitutional. Simon Tam, the front man for the Asian-American rock band “The Slants” filed a trademark application with the […]
If you apply for a trademark that references a living president or a political candidate, prepare to be denied. Currently there are over 275 active trademark applications containing the word “TRUMP” and chances are, unless they were filed by Donald Trump or his family, then many of those applications will be denied. Why? Because the United States Patent and Trademark Office […]
The Supreme Court recently granted cert (meaning that they agreed to hear arguments) in Lee v. Tam, a case challenging the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s ban on the registration of ‘disparaging’ trademarks. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on this issue, but denied the request of the owners of the Washington Redskins’ trademarks for their pending appeal to […]