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STL Gearing up for the Seattle Law Blogger Meetup
2008-01-15 03:40:00
On Jan. 15, yours truly will host what I hope will become an annual event — the Seattle Law Blogger Meetup . The event is intended for local law bloggers to socialize and discuss the blogging experience. The agenda is open, but I personally want to hear what my fellow law bloggers have to say about the following:Why do you blog?What goals do you have?What’s been your most rewarding experience?What’s been your biggest disappointment?What’s been your biggest challenge?How did you overcome it?If there is anything you could change about your blog, what would it be?Where do you see legal blogging going in the future?Of course, I’m also interested in learning new tips on developing new content, expanding readership, avoiding problems in court, and maintaining law firm support.Based on RSVPs, it looks like we’ll have a good turnout, including many from my “Seattle Law Blogs” blog roll:Venkat Balasubramani of Spam ...

U.S. Olympic Committee Says Olympic Cellars Must Turn Away Some Customers
2008-01-13 21:25:00
The U.S. Olympic Committee ’s demands of Washington’s Olympic Cellars Winery has made a lot of news around here lately. On Dec. 30, the Peninsula Daily News broke the story. Then came National Public radio affiliate KUOW’s take on Jan. 9, followed by an article in the Seattle Times on Jan. 11.The crux of the story is the USOC has demanded that the winery, which has used “Olympic” in its name for 15 years, make more explicit reference to the Olympic Peninsula on its Web site and stop selling to persons who live outside western Washington if they have not visited the winery.Olympic Cellars has agreed to change its Web site but has not agreed to restrict its sales. Its use of the Internet to market its wines outside western Washington would not seem to come as a surprise to the USOC, which reportedly gave the winery permission to register its olympiccellars.com domain name in 1999.Ol...
More About: Customers , Turn

Business Owner Says Overzealous USOC Threatens Washington's Economy
2008-01-11 06:07:00
Jason Bausher, owner of the Olympic Mountain School and publisher of the “Best of the Olympic Peninsula” travel guide, has done a little research since getting his first cease-and-desist letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee regarding his use of the word “Olympic.”His conclusion: with almost 500 other businesses named “Olympic,” western Washington will face an economic crisis if the USOC sues each business that doesn’t agree to change its name. To prove his point, Mr. Bausher compiled a list identifying the affected businesses and a table (thumbnail below) indicating where each is located. Not surprisingly, most are based on the Olympic Peninsula, near Seattle, or near Olympia. Port Angeles leads all cities with 72 “Olympic”-named businesses, followed by Seattle (44), Sequim (36), Bremerton (29), and Olympia (28). Distribution of “Oly...
More About: Business , Economy , Owner

Financial Firms Fight Over SUMMIT CAPITAL PARTNERS Trademark
2008-01-09 04:59:00
On Dec. 28, Seattle-based Summit Capital Group, LLC, and affiliated financial services companies filed suit in the Western District against the Boston-based Summit Partners , LP, venture capital firm, seeking a declaration of non-infringement and non-dilution of the defendant’s SUMMIT PARTNERS trademark.The complaint states: “Plaintiffs or its affiliates have done business under the tradename SUMMIT CAPITAL PARTNERS since at least 1986. One or more of the Plaintiffs registered the tradename, SUMMIT CAPITAL PARTNERS, with the Washington State corporate registry in 1996 and has used that tradename continuously, without interruption, ever since.”The complaint further states that defendant sent plaintiffs a letter in Sept. 2007 claiming that plaintiffs’ use of SUMMIT CAPITAL PARTNERS infringes upon and dilutes defendant’s rights in several trademarks and trade names. The letter, which plaintiffs attached to their complaint, specifies...
More About: Financial , Fight , Infringement

How Western District Trademark Cases Were Decided in 2007 (Pt. 2)
2008-01-08 05:51:00
As discussed yesterday, the Western District of Washington disposed of fifty-one trademark cases in 2007. These consist of cases that PACER identified as being “trademark” matters that parties filed in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and that were listed as being closed in 2007. Here’s how they went down:34 were voluntarily dismissed (presumably most often because the parties settled).11 ended with a stipulated permanent injunction.6 ended with a default judgment against at least one of the parties.2 ended when the plaintiff accepted the defendant’s offer of judgment.2 ended after trial.1 was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.That puts us at fifty-five dispositions, four more than were filed. This is because cases with multiple defendants sometimes ended with more than one event (e.g., one defendant settled and was voluntarily dismissed, and the other defendant did not appear and lost by default...
More About: Cases , Trademark , Strict

How Western District Trademark Cases Were Decided in 2007 (Part 2)
2008-01-08 05:51:00
As discussed yesterday, the Western District of Washington disposed of fifty-one trademark cases in 2007. These consist of cases that PACER identified as being “trademark” matters that parties filed in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and that were listed as being closed in 2007. Here’s how they went down:34 were voluntarily dismissed (presumably most often because the parties settled).11 ended with a stipulated permanent injunction.6 ended with a default judgment against at least one of the parties.2 ended when the plaintiff accepted the defendant’s offer of judgment.2 ended after trial.1 was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.That puts us at fifty-five dispositions, four more than were filed. This is because cases with multiple defendants sometimes ended with more than one event (e.g., one defendant settled and was voluntarily dismissed, and the other defendant did not appear and lost by default...
More About: Part , Cases , Trademark

How Western District Trademark Cases Were Decided in 2007 (Part 1)
2008-01-07 00:48:00
Continuing my similar analysis from last year (see posts here and here), I’ve looked at cases that were opened and cases that were closed in the Western District of Washington in 2007. To get a more accurate picture of 2007 activity, I analyzed cases filed from 2005 to 2007 that the federal courts’ PACER database flagged as involving primarily “trademark” issues. The statistics are interesting.Thirty-eight trademark cases were filed in the Western District in 2007, compared with 64 cases in 2006, and 166 in 2005. 2005 was an unusual year because Microsoft filed 117 infringement lawsuits against John Doe defendants who allegedly were engaged in “phishing,” i.e., using Microsoft trademarks to trick Hotmail customers into providing personal information. Without the Microsoft suits, plaintiffs filed 49 suits in 2005. Even without those cases, new trademark filings in 2007 were the lowest in the Western Dist...
More About: Part , Cases , Trademark

Laches Bars Infringement Suit by Wailers (Tacoma) Against Wailers (Jamaica)
2008-01-04 04:32:00
STL readers will recall that the Wailers rock and roll band from Tacoma brought suit in June against the Wailers reggae band from Jamaica for trademark infringement, dilution, unfair competition, and cybersquatting, based on plaintiffs’ WAILERS registered trademark. Yesterday, Western District Judge Ronald Leighton found that plaintiffs filed their suit after the analogous statute of limitations had expired and, therefore, granted summary judgment in favor of defendants based on laches.The court found: “Defendants stress that Plaintiffs were aware Defendants were calling themselves the ‘Wailers’ since the mid to late 1970s, when they were asked about their relationship to Bob Marley. Plaintiffs argue, without legal or logical support, that there is some meaningful difference between the names ‘Wailers’ (standing alone) and ‘Wailers’ in the context of ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers.’ They clai...
More About: Infringement , Bars , Cybersquatting

Happy New Year!
2008-01-01 07:00:00
STL is taking a quick New Year ’s break while I enjoy a little R&R in San Francisco. I’ll be back at it on Jan. 3. In the meantime, here’s a shot from my favorite New Year’s Eve ever — with my wife on the Spanish Steps in Rome.Happy New Year!!
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Use of Same Trademark for a Different Product Didn't Infringe Registered Ma
2007-12-30 06:33:00
The Ninth Circuit yesterday clarified what it takes for the owner of a federally registered trademark to succeed in an infringement action against another user of the mark in connection with goods or services that are different than those specified in the owner’s trademark registration.Applied Information Sciences Corp. owns the registered trademark SMARTSEARCH for certain computer-related functions, and claimed that eBay, Inc. uses the same SMARTSEARCH mark for its Internet auction Web site, which AIS contended will cause confusion with its own SMARTSEARCH product. The Central District of California disagreed, and granted summary judgment to eBay.The Ninth Circuit questioned the Central District’s reasoning, but affirmed the decision since AIS failed to produce any admissible evidence tending to show a likelihood of confusion. The Ninth Circuit found:“[A] plaintiff trademark owner must establish a valid, protectable interest...
More About: Product , Infringement , Trademark , Diff

Seattle Racing Helmet Manufacturer Loses at TTAB
2007-12-28 01:34:00
In 2005, Lloyd Lifestyle Limited and Lloyd IP Limited filed an opposition proceeding with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board opposing Tukwila, Wash.-based Soaring Helmet Corp.’s intent-to-use application to register NITRO as a word mark for “motorcycle helmets and protective clothing.” Lloyd IP Limited and VSJ Limited separately petitioned to cancel Soaring Helmet’s registration for NITRO RACING, also a word mark used in connection with “motorcycle helmets and protective clothing.”On Dec. 11, the TTAB ruled in favor of Lloyd in both proceedings.TTABlogger John Welch describes the decision as follows:“In a battle over the marks NITRO and NITRO RACING for motorcycle helmets and protective clothing, the Board ruled in favor of Opposer/ Petitioner Lloyd Lifestyle in finding that Applicant/Registrant Soaring Helmet was not the owner of the marks at the time it applied for registration. Consequently, the Board sustained ...
More About: Seattle , Racing , Manufacturer

Use of Mark with Web Site Not Sufficient to Establish Use in Commerce
2007-12-27 01:40:00
Plaintiff Robert Guichard is an independent film producer who is working on a proposed, unproduced screenplay titled “Whisper of the Blue” about an ex-Navy SEAL who sets out to find a ship of sunken gold and comes across a modern-day pirate. In February 2006, Mr. Guichard launched a Web site at www.whisperoftheblue.com tha t contains information about his project.Filiming on the set of “Whisper of the Blue”In Oct. 2006, Mr. Guichard sued in the Northern District of California to enjoin defendant Universal City Studios LLLP from using “Whisper” as the title of its upcoming motion picture, which had been in production since November 2004. Universal’s movie is about the kidnapping of a seemingly meek 10-year-old boy whose kidnappers soon realize is far less innocent than he appears and, while he may be quiet, they had better be careful because his whisper “may be the last thing that they hear.”Universal’s &#...
More About: Site , Infringement , Commerce , Mark , Sufficient

Merry Christmas!
2007-12-25 22:57:00
Still not quite as romantic as Christmas in Madrid, but it’s actually snowing in Seattle!! Peace! (Old photo; STL will resume posting soon.)
More About: Merry Christmas , Merry

STL Welcomes New Blogger Australian Trade Marks Law Blog
2007-12-24 21:01:00
Nicholas Weston has staked out some pretty big territory. With its launch of the Australian Trade Marks Law Blog , the Melbourne-based law firm joins my list of favorite regional trademark law blogs. (Also on the list: Canadian Trademark Blog, Chicago IP Litigation Blog, and Vegas Trademark Attorney.) And what a territory it is — ATMLB aims to provide a “reliable source of information and commentary” on trademark issues throughout Australia.Contributing IP attorneys Mark Davison, Neil Brown, Nick Weston, and Lea Lewin have recently addressed the registrability of scent marks in Australia, Europe, and the U.S.; the importance of entries in the Macquarie Dictionary, the “accepted dictionary of ‘Australian English,’” in establishing trademark distinctiveness; and an Australian court’s decision involving counterfeit dishwashing detergent. This is good stuff for anyone with trademark issues d...
More About: Blogger

Bentley Motors Obtains Stipulated Transfer of Domain Names
2007-12-21 02:29:00
In September, Bentley Motors Limited Corp. brought an in rem action in the Western District against the domain names BentleyUSA.com and BentleyOnline.com, which Bentley claimed contained its registered trademark. Bentley’s cybersquatting complaint alleged that the registrant, David Hill, does not use the domain names in connection with an active, bona fide Web site; Mr. Hill repeatedly offered to sell the domain names to Bentley for more than $30,000, saying it was “logical” for Bentley to own them; and he claimed he had intercepted “hundreds of emails” intended for Bentley, including emails containing “very sensitive information in relation to profits, sales numbers, and build costs.” The complaint sought to have the domain names transferred to Bentley.Bentley brought suit in the Western District in rem because Mr. Hill resides outside of the United States and because the registrar, eNom, Inc., r...
More About: Domain , Domain Names , Transfer

Ninth Circuit Finds Statutory Damages for Counterfeiting Precludes Award of
2007-12-20 02:57:00
The Ninth Circuit yesterday addressed the question: “whether an award of statutory damages for trademark counterfeiting under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c) precludes an award of attorney’s fees under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(b).” Reversing the Central District of California in the case of K and N Engineering, Inc. v. Bulat, the Ninth Circuit found that it does.K&N makes aftermarket air filters and related products. In 2004, K&N learned that Sarah Bulat and Steve Wandel were selling unauthorized decals bearing K&N’s registered design mark on eBay. In all, Ms. Bulat and Mr. Wandel sold 89 sets of the decals (with two decals per set) for $267. K&N brought suit and the Central District of California granted it summary judgment on its infringement, counterfeiting, and dilution claims. K&N elected statutory damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c). The Central District awarded it statutory damages in the amount of $20,000 and atto...
More About: Counterfeiting , Award , Damages , Ages

California Statute Requires Applicants to Disclose PTO Activity
2007-12-18 06:07:00
California’s new trademark statute, the Model State Trademark Law, replaces the state’s Trademark Law with new provisions adapted from the model bill endorsed by the International Trademark Association. As with the version it replaces, the trademark statute remains codified at Section 14200 of the California Business and Professions Code.The new statute:Reduces to five from ten years the term for which a mark may be registered or successively renewed;Brings the concepts of abandonment and dilution in line with federal case law; andIncludes in the application a declaration of accuracy that subjects the declarant to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for willfully stating as true any material fact he or she knows to be false.I was particularly interested to learn of another revision that authorizes the secretary of state to require applicants to disclose if the Patent and Trademark Office had refused to register the...
More About: California , Disclose

Texas High School To Change Logo Following WSU's Demands
2007-12-15 09:46:00
Washington State University has caused a Texas high school to change its school logo, the Spokesman-Review stated yesterday. WSU believes Albilene, Tex.’s Cooper High School ’s cougar head logo is too similar to its own cougar head logo. The high school has agreed to make the change.Cooper Principal Gail Gregg said the school’s lawyers advised they didn’t have much of a chance to win the dispute.“They advised us that if we fought it, there’s a slim chance we’d win, and if we got there it’d cost us more in legal fees than it would to replace all the logos.”Confusingly similar? Cooper High School ’s logo (left)and WSU’s logos c.1964 (middle) and todayThe cost to change the logo nonetheless will be big. Mr. Gregg told the Abilene Reporter-News: “I’m going to shoot from the hip and say that it could be $40,000 to $50,000. [A]s you come on the campus, it’s just everywhere. It’...
More About: Demands , Change , Infringement

Anesthesiologist Agrees to Judgment and Permanent Injunction
2007-12-14 06:18:00
In October, STL reported on a Seattle doctor who had been sued by the American Board of Anesthesiology, Inc., for allegedly passing himself off as a board-certified anesthesiologist by using the ABA’s certification mark on credentialing documents. Today, Ray P. Liao, M.D., consented to the entry of judgment in favor of the ABA. Dr. Liao also agreed to a permanent injunction enjoining him from “Directly or indirectly using or infringing upon the Plaintiff’s certification marks”; “Engaging in any acts or activities directly or indirectly calculated to trade upon the Plaintiff’s certification marks, or the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff”; and “Making any representation, including any use of brochures, letterhead, business cards, curriculum vitae or other written information indicating or implying that [he] is certified by the Plaintiff or is a Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology unless...
More About: Infringement , Judgment , Permanent , Logi

Striking Writers Chide Producers with Protest Web Site
2007-12-12 03:20:00
The Los Angeles Times today reported that Hollywood’s striking writers have acquired the amptp.com and amptp.net domain names and launched a Web site that protests the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in the parties’ labor dispute. AMPTP’s official site is associated with amptp.org.The story begins with the observation: “When the Hollywood studios say they don’t know enough about the Internet to pay writers what they seek for the streaming and downloading of their shows, they might not be kidding.”The protest site, which looks like the producers’ official site, states the Alliance was “heartbroken” that negotiations with the writers had failed “despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mixed CD and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs.” It also features lin...
More About: Parody , Site , Infringement , Writers , Counterfeiting

China Law Blog Explains Agent Exception to China's First-to-File Trademark
2007-12-11 03:02:00
The Seattle- and Shanghai- based China Law Blog explains the “agent” exception to China’s first-to-file rule. Citing a post by the China Business Law Blog, it summarizes Chinese authority holding that a trademark owner’s business agent cannot act as the owner’s agent in registering a trademark.“What this means in real life is that if you are a foreign company manufacturing your product in China, the company you use to find your manufacturer and the company you use for your actual manufacturing cannot file your foreign trademark in China. So if you have a United States trademark and you make the huge mistake of not registering your trademark in China when you first go over there, there are about 1.3 billion people in China who can register ‘your’ U.S. trademark in China and ‘take’ it from you, but your agents are not one of them. “What this really means though is that everyone in China can usurp you...
More About: Agent , File , Exception

Latest Band Name Dispute Pits Souljah Boy Against Soulja Boy
2007-12-08 20:56:00
Photo credit: musikizme.comAs STL readers know, I love a good band name dispute. The latest involves Little Willie Lyons, a/k/a “Soulja h Boy,” who filed suit yesterday in the District of Nevada against fellow rapper Deandre Way, a/k/a “Soulja Boy ,” Mr. Way’s manager, and Mr. Way’s publishers. Mr. Lyons claims that SOULJA BOY infringes and dilutes his common law rights in SOULJAH BOY (with an “H”).Mr. Lyons states he has sold millions of records as “Souljah Boy,” and has been featured in “volumes of advertising, magazine articles and other media since 1995 in the continental United States and abroad.”Mr. Way is one of the most popular musicians today. In September, his single “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart based on national sales and radio play. In an application to register SOULJA BOY with the Patent an...
More About: Band , Infringement , Dispute

MEECO and True Value Settle Infringement Suit
2007-12-06 02:17:00
On April 5, STL reported on a Western District order dismissing on copyright preemption grounds unfair competition and unjust enrichment claims MEECO Manufacturing Co., Inc., had brought against True Value Co. MEECO claimed in the suit True Value uses and displays images of MEECO’S RED DEVIL fireplace products in its electronic catalog without authorization and ships competing products when it receives orders for those products. The court found the product labels and logo at issue came within the subject matter of MEECO’s copyright registrations and the unfair competition and unjust enrichment claims really amounted to a copyright claim.  Yesterday, Judge Robert Lasnik granted the parties’ agreed motion to dismiss MEECO’s claims against True Value. The order does not affect MEECO’s claims against Imperial Sheet Metal, Ltd., and Imperial Manufacturing Group, which True Value joined in May as third-party d...
More About: Infringement , Settle , Suit

Western District Awards Maximum Statutory Damages in Cybersquatting Case
2007-12-05 03:04:00
The Western District today entered its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the Lahoti v. Vericheck, Inc., cybersquatting case. As STL discussed here, plaintiff David Lahoti filed a declaratory judgment action challenging the National Arbitration Forum’s UDRP order that his domain name, vericheck.com, be transferred to Vericheck, and finding that his registration does not violate the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Vericheck counterclaimed for cybersquatting, trademark infringement, and violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.In August, Judge James Robart found on summary judgment that Mr. Lahoti had registered and used vericheck.com in bad faith; that he was not entitled to the ACPA’s “safe harbor” provision; that vericheck.com and VERICHECK are identical or confusingly similar; and that Vericheck’s use of the mark predated Mr. Lahoti’s registration of the domain name.In November, t...
More About: Awards , Case

Starbucks Chairman Marks Trademark Settlement with Trip to Africa
2007-12-04 06:16:00
Africa News reports today that Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz is in Africa recognizing the company’s settlement with Ethiopian coffee farmers over the rights to three coffee names: SIDAMO, HARAR, and YIRGACHEFFE. In the last few months, STL has discussed the settlement here and here.Mr. Schultz summarized the dispute by saying: “The Ethiopian government wanted to potentially trade mark pieces of geography that stand for where the coffee is from, whether it is Harar or Sidamo or any other place and that is their privilege and their right. Starbucks as a company, we can’t tell any government what to do or what not to do, we are just customers.” Downplaying the controversy, he added: “The issue of the trademark was never as contentious as it was reported.”In the end, he said it made sense for Starbucks to align itself with Ethiopian farmers to promote sustainability and high quality coffee. For that, he said, Starbucks&nbs...
More About: Africa , Trip , Trademark

Seattle Times Discusses TTAB's Spam Arrest Decision
2007-12-02 18:19:00
This morning, The Seattle Times wrote about the Hormel v. Spam Arrest decision as part of its “Sunday Buzz” feature. As discussed here, Seattle-based Spam Arrest won the proceeding, enabling it to keep its federal registration for SPAM ARREST in connection with software that fights unsolicited commercial email. The decision involving Seattle-based Spam Arrest marked the “first and only” win a software company has had over Hormel, the maker of SPAM canned meat, over the everyday use of the word “spam” in a trademark to refer to unsolicited commercial email. The article quotes me as saying this is the first time I can think of in which a trademark became a common word not through genericide (as happened with aspirin and escalator) but through mutation. Spam Arrest doesn’t use “spam” to refer to canned meat — a proprietary use Hormel retains — but to mean unsolicited commercial email.&#...
More About: Decision

STL Turns One
2007-12-01 20:19:00
Nov. 29 marked STL’s first anniversary. I spent Thanksgiving weekend last year trying out blogging software and wondering if anyone would ever read what I wrote. I had two unique hits for the month of November — me from home and me from work. That was fine with me, because I was still developing my site and, though technically a part of the Web, I didn’t feel quite ready to go “live.” Ron Coleman outted me. He must have noticed all my hits to his site, because he very publicly welcomed me to the IP law blogging world a year ago today. Here come the flames, I thought, waiting for ruthless commentators to rip my meager efforts to shreds. But it never happened. In fact, in the last year (in response to my blog at least), I’ve never heard an unkind word. I’ve only experienced generosity. I’ve gotten more than a leg up from some true giants in this field — Ron Coleman, Marty Schwimmer, John Welch, Re...

HBO Decides Not to Fight Application to Register HEALTH AND THE CITY
2007-11-30 02:53:00
The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog reports on New Yorker Jennifer Cassetta’s fight with Home Box Office, Inc., over her 2006 application to register HEALTH AND THE CITY in connection with “physical fitness instruction.” (Law Blog’s first post on the story here.) HBO, owner of its “Sex and the City ” television program and SEX AND THE CITY family of marks, had extended the time to oppose Ms. Cassetta’s application since June. However, its last extension lapsed on Nov. 18, clearing the way for Ms. Cassetta to get her registration. Most of the reader comments applauded Ms. Cassetta’s triumph over the “suits” at HBO and its parent, Time Warner Inc. However, two thought Ms. Cassetta had brought the trouble on herself by selecting a trademark that trades off HBO’s. I’ve got to side with the latter view. Out of the infinite universe of possible trade...
More About: Health , Dilution , Fight , Infringement

Paint Remover Makers Settle Trademark and Trade Dress Dispute
2007-11-29 05:58:00
Last July, Bellingham, Wash.-based Homax Products, Inc. filed a declaratory judgment action against Dynacraft Industries, Inc. Both parties manufacture paint removal products that change color to signify when the paint they are applied to is ready to be stripped.One of Dynacraft’s READY STRIP productsHomax’s complaint stemmed from a cease-and-desist letter it received from Dynacraft in May 2006, which allegedly claimed that:Homax’s use of NATURE’S OWN for its paint strippers infringes Dynacraft’s federally-register ed mark, BACK TO NATURE;Homax’s use of the the phrase “Color Changing Paint Stripper” infringes Dynacraft’s common law trademark rights in COLOR CHANGING PAINT STRIPPER; andHomax’s “selection of verbiage” in two of its labels are “close in comparison with the copyrighted verbiage in Dynacraft’s ‘Ready Strip’ label....
More About: Dress , Infringement , Trade , Makers , Settle

TTAB Dismisses Hormel's Petition to Cancel SPAM ARREST Registration
2007-11-27 03:56:00
On Nov. 21, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed Hormel Foods Corp.’s petition to cancel the trademark registration owned by Seattle-based Spam Arrest , LLC, for SPAM ARREST, with the word “spam” disclaimed, for “computer software, namely software designed to eliminate unsolicited commercial electronic mail.” Hormel had argued Spam Arrest’s mark was not entitled to registration based on a likelihood of confusion with and dilution of Hormel’s family of famous SPAM trademarks. Spam Arrest responded that “spam” is a generic term, which in connection with the word “arrest” is not likely to cause confusion or dilute Hormel’s marks. (For more background, see STL’s report on the Feb. 23 hearing, which I was fortunate enough to attend.) TTAB Judges David Sams, Ellen Seeherman, and Gerard Rogers unanimously sided with Spam Arrest: “The word ‘s...
More About: Dilution , Petition