The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) was created in 1914 to regulate unfair trade practices. It issued its first set of Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (commonly known as the Green Guides) under in 1992, which it then updated in 1996 and 1998. The Green Guides are meant to provide guidance to marketers so they can avoid…

Pipe dreams of trademark protection for marijuana go up in smoke . . . On April 20, 2010 the USPTO issued a federal service mark registration to Sunny Chan d/ba Good Leaf Collective for the mark GOOD LEAF COLLECTIVE for “Retail store and on-line retail store services featuring medical marijuana”. Ironically (and probably much to the delight…

In order to initiate an infringement action in federal court, the Copyright Act requires the litigating party to hold a copyright registration. While the circuits are split on what constitutes a copyright registration, the Ninth Circuit recently joined the Fifth and Seventh Circuits in Cosmetic Ideas v. IAC in holding that anapplication for copyright registration suffices for a…

We all can agree that Barbie is a famous brand, regardless of what we may think of her or the thin values she espouses. Barbie dolls have been around since May 9, 1958. The first Barbie trademark registration (Reg. No. 0,689,055) for a “doll” was issued on December 1, 1959. This is interesting because “doll”…

This posting is about the recently filed trademark case Weight Watchers International Inc. v. Nestle U.S.A. Inc., 09-07964, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). MY DISCLAIMER — I have not read the complaint. Instead, I saw Joel Rosenblatt’s article in the news section on the e INTA LinkedIn Group. Joel’s article states…

A few weeks ago, I attended the Social Media for Sustainability conference hosted by Justmeans. I met Joey and Stacie Shepp there and Joey told me about their project, Open Brands. Open Brands uses Twitter to follow and measure the real life conversations that consumers are having about brands. Open Brands is able to do this through the use of “brand…

On Thursday, June 4, 2009 the USPTO reduced its goal for “trademark pendency” to two months. “TM Pendency” determines how large of an inventory of unprocessed applications the USPTO should keep at any given time. The time frame discussed in relation to pendency is the time that it takes the PTO to issue a First…

On Thursday, June 4, 2009 the USPTO reduced its goal for “trademark pendency” to two months. “TM Pendency” determines how large of an inventory of unprocessed applications the USPTO should keep at any given time. The time frame discussed in relation to pendency is the time that it takes the PTO to issue a First…

I am in Denver, Colorado for the 7th Annual (yet my first) BALLE Conference. BALLE is the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. BALLE’s Mission is to build Local Living Economies in North America that foster vibrant communities, a healthy natural environment, and prosperity for all. This is done through: Catalyzing, strengthening, and connecting networks of…

Who would have thought that two museums would be battling out for the right to use THE COLD WAR MUSEUM? Although the Cold War ended in 1991, two museums currently are warring over who gets to use the term COLD WAR MUSEUM as their service mark. The Cold War Museum endeavors to maintain a historically accurate record…