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
Hasbro wins “Play-Doh” trademark case
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
Coach sues former employee for trademark infringement
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
Blingville, Farmville And Cityville Makes One too Many Villes
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
Palin U.S. Trademark Applications refused for now
Orange County – It appears that Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol have both run into a bit of a snag in attempts to trademark their names for “motivational speaking services.” Palin family attorney Thomas Van Flein filed applications for the names Sarah Palin and Bristol Palin on November 5, which were both rejected by the
Ford sues Ferrari over Trademark: The Race for F150
Though at first blush Ford’s claim may seem a little silly, we don’t think it is. Should Ford allow Ferrari to use the F150 trademark in relation to Ferrari’s automobiles, it would become much harder to stop a similar infringement in the future.
Continue Reading Ford sues Ferrari over Trademark: The Race for F150
Pac-10 Conference runs into snag with Pac12 Domain Name
Orange County – The Pac-10 is no stranger to competition. The west coast college athletic conference has now expanded by two teams and could be facing its toughest competitor yet. It appears that a dedicated Tupac Shakur fan is already the owner of the trophy at stake: the domain name pac12.com.
The domain, which was
White House Proposing New Intellectual Property Laws
Orange County – In an effort to suppress Internet piracy, President Obama has announced a set of proposed bills he will be sending for Congressional approval. The legislative proposals are designed to increase the enforcement of laws regarding intellectual property theft, specifically online piracy.
Victoria Espinel, who has been appointed by the Obama administration as
“The King’s Speech” bitten over trademark use
San Diego – The American Humane Association (AHA) has threatened legal action against the producers of the academy-award winning movie “The King’s Speech”. The film’s credits used the phrase “No animals were harmed” referring to the treatment of Corgi dogs that appeared in the movie. According to the AHA, this is in violation of its trademark
Jim Beam has Jose Cuervo eating crow over trademark use
Los Angeles – A black crow is the subject of debate in an ongoing trademark dispute between alcohol-makers Jim Beam and Jose Cuervo.
The dispute started back in the 1990’s when Jose Cuervo began labeling its bottles of tequila with an image of a black crow, which infringed on Jim Beam’s use of a