San Diego – Coca-Cola recently filed an opposition to a trademark application for “Cocaine” for energy drinks filed by Redux Beverages in Chile on grounds of unfair competition and morality. Coca-Cola is also claiming that the trademark will lead to a likelihood of confusion with its famous Coca-Cola brand.
James Kirby, Founder/President of Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages, surmised that
Los Angeles – Paris shoe-designer Christian Louboutin has become so synonymous with its shoes having red soles, that it was awarded a red-sole trade dress registration in 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). So when Yves St. Laurent(YSL) released its “Palais” peep toe pumps with, you guessed it…red soles, Louboutin was
Los Angeles – After much-publicized angry rants against the executive producers of the television show, “Two and a Half Men”, Charlie Sheen is looking to capitalize on his infamous ‘Sheenisms.’ The veteran actor has hired Intellectual Property attorneys to file trademark applications for 22 catchphrases including “Duh-Winning”, “Violent Torpedo of Truth”, ”Rock Star From Mars”
Orange County – Austin-based Hormel Foods Corporation filed a trade dress infringement complaint in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against Zwanenberg Food Group. Zwanenberg has allegedly continued to use packaging that is “confusingly similar” to the “Spam” packaging used by Hormel.
In October 2010, Hormel sent Zwanenberg a cease and desist letter. Zwanenberg responded by saying that it
Los Angeles – If there is one thing that Twitter does not seem to do well, it would be protecting its intellectual property rights. Just recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected Twitter’s “Tweet” trademark application for a second time.
Apparently, the word “Tweet” has already been registered by Twittad, a third party
Orange County – After months of mediation to resolve a dispute over the Groupon trademark and Groupon.com.au domain name, it appears that the Chicago-based online group-buying site will be forced to market itself to Australians as Stardeals.com.au. Groupon invites consumers to register on its website to receive daily emails from local businesses offering discounts
San Diego – Subway is being sued in federal trademark court in a dispute over the term “Footlong”. Apparently, the world’s largest sandwich chain hopes the courts will rule that “Footlong” is a noun that describes its signature sandwiches. Subway has filed a Footlong trademark application and is currently using it in a multi-million dollar
San Diego – Hasbro, the world’s second-largest toymaker, has succeeded in winning a trademark infringement action against a U.K. toy distributor MAPS Toys. Hasbro sued Maps as well as German company 123 Nahrmittel over its infringing use of the term “play dough” with its “Yummy Dough” product.
The suit, filed with the High
Los Angeles – Former Coach Inc. employee Gina Kim knows the price of a real handbag. To earn extra money, Kim planned to auction several of her Coach handbags that she had purchased with her employee discount. Soon after Kim advertised the bags for sale on eBay, she received a cease and desist letter from
San Diego – If you are a Facebook user, and chances are pretty good that you are, you’ve likely been exposed to the social networking application called “Farmville.” Developed by Zynga Inc., Farmville now has over 14 million active daily users and 56 million active monthly users. The game’s popularity has been so overwhelming that
