Consultancy firm Interbrand released its Best Global Brands 2013 list yesterday, announcing that Apple is the most valuable brand in the world. Tech companies make up four of the top five spots on the list. For the first time in the list’s 14-year history, Coca-Cola was not listed at the top, falling instead to third… Continue reading Most Valuable Trademarks 2013
Tag: trademarks
Will Trademark Fees Be Lower in the Future?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has published an invitation for comments regarding the possibility of lower trademark application fees. According to the notice published in the Federal Register, the lower fees would be only for applications filed electronically. The purpose of the lower fees is to incentivize applicants to use the electronic filing system… Continue reading Will Trademark Fees Be Lower in the Future?
Are You Intellectual Property-Aware?
Many small and medium business owners don’t know the difference between trademark and copyright, patent and trademark, or design patent and trademark–much less which of these types of IP they actually own. As a result, many business owners miss out on the competitive advantages that come hand-in-hand with their IP rights. They miss out on… Continue reading Are You Intellectual Property-Aware?
How Strong is Your Brand? (Fanciful Marks)
This is my final blog post in a series discussing the spectrum of distinctiveness and how the spectrum can be used to analyze the relative strength of a trademark. This post is about marks that are fanciful. I discussed the relatively weaker types of trademarks, generic marks, merely descriptive marks, suggestive marks, and arbitrary marks… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand? (Fanciful Marks)
How Strong is Your Brand? (Arbitrary Marks)
This is my fifth blog entry in my series detailing the spectrum of distinctiveness and how the spectrum can be used to analyze the relative strength of a trademark. This post is about marks that are arbitrary. I discussed the relatively weaker types of trademarks, generic marks, merely descriptive marks, and suggestive marks, in previous… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand? (Arbitrary Marks)
How Strong is Your Brand? (Suggestive Marks)
In a series of posts, I am discussing the spectrum of distinctiveness, which can be used to evaluate the potential strength of a mark. This post is about marks that are suggestive. I discussed the relatively weaker types of trademarks, generic marks and merely descriptive marks, in previous posts. A suggestive mark is one that… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand? (Suggestive Marks)
How Strong is Your Brand? (Descriptive Marks)
In a series of posts, I am discussing the spectrum of distinctiveness, which can be used to evaluate the potential strength of a mark. This post is about marks that are merely descriptive. Recently, I discussed the weakest type of trademark, the generic mark. A mark is descriptive if it describes an “ingredient, quality, characteristic,… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand? (Descriptive Marks)
The Use of Shame in a Trademark Dispute
One thing that legal counsel should consider when drafting a cease-and-desist letter: be careful with what you write; it could make you famous. An interesting recent Wall Street Journal article discusses a tactic that accused trademark infringers are turning to when they don’t have the resources or desire to hire legal counsel: attempting to publically… Continue reading The Use of Shame in a Trademark Dispute
How Strong is Your Brand? (Generic Marks)
Previously, I introduced the concept of the spectrum of distinctiveness, which is a simple sliding scale we use to determine the potential strength of a mark. In this post, I will discuss generic marks, which fall on the left side of the scale: A generic mark is one that is a common name of the… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand? (Generic Marks)
How Strong is Your Brand?
My clients often ask me to evaluate the strength of their trademarks. While the answer to such a question is never simple because of the many factors that could affect the enforcement of any trademark, we are able to at least predict the general level of protection a mark could receive by determining where the… Continue reading How Strong is Your Brand?