On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Thursday, July 16, 2015. You've come up with a brilliant idea. Your family and friends are behind you and you're ready to make it big. But here comes your first potential hurdle: What do you name your new business? Companies creating trademarks (including a business name) often fail to thoroughly research other companies for the same trademark (name, logo, symbol, sound, color used as a distinguishing feature). If you are starting your own business, whether it is a food truck, clothing line, or tech start up, it is important to first make certain [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Thursday, May 28, 2015. If you have developed a brand of any kind, you'll want to protect it in order to maximize earnings and grow the brand. The most common form of protection is filing a trademark application. A trademark is any unique symbol, word, image or device that distinguishes the goods you have created from those of another seller. Certain trademarks are iconic: the font for the Coca-Cola logo, or the alligator logo on a Lacoste shirt. Consumers have come to associate the white cursive script from the Coca-Cola logo with beverages [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Thursday, May 7, 2015. Don Henley, a former member of the rock band the Eagles, has sued a company for using a pun to sell the style of shirts that share his name. The Minnesota-based Duluth Trading Company marketed its Henley shirts (a T-shirt with a short row of vertical buttons down the front) with the phrase, "Don a Henley and Take It Easy." Mr. Henley complained that the campaign references both his name and the title of the group's breakthrough single, "Take It Easy." Mr. Henley did not want consumers to believe [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. A small Virginia-based beer manufacturer called Old Ox Brewery is defending itself in a trademark challenge against energy drink company Red Bull - all because Red Bull argues that the word "ox" could cause consumer confusion. Trademark infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark in connection with goods or services in a way that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods or services. Here, Red Bull is concerned that consumers who know and purchase their [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Recent news that pop sensation Taylor Swift has applied to trademark "catchphrases" from her "1989" album (such as "This Sick Beat," "Nice to Meet You. Where You Been?" and "Party Like It's 1989") has appeared to open the floodgates in terms oftrademark questions. Can anyone trademark any phrase that pops into their minds, for use in the sale of certain products? The answer is yes, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines, according to NYU Law School professor Christopher Sprigman, who spoke to Money magazine about this [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Many people assume that if they file a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and the Examining Attorney at the USPTO does not find any conflicting trademarks, that they are entitled to registration. However, there is another step along the way. Federal law provides a way for a party to challenge the registration of a trademark during what is known as the publication period. The publication period occurs after the Examining Attorney's preliminary approval and is intended to allow any person or entity who believes [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. If you've ever had pomegranate juice from the supermarket, chances are, it's Pom Wonderful. Pom Wonderful spends tremendous amounts of time and energy marketing its products - and bringing lawsuits against other companies' uses that may infringe its trademarks. Indeed, Pom Wonderful recently succeeded in bringing an action against Pur, which is known for making water filters, for selling a pomegranate-flavored energy drink called "Pom." The lessons learned from that case are helpful for anyone considering bringing a trademark action. Trademark infringement cases are important because they help companies [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. If you are like many business owners, you take pride in the name of your business and/or product, which are likely the result of hard work and substantial investment, of both the financial and time variety. Hopefully you have worked with anexperienced Orange County trademark lawyer to protect these forms of intellectual property as too often, competitors try to capitalize on a business's success or reputation by using the same or a similar name for comparable businesses and products, often harming your business in the process. If this is [...]

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Thursday, February 5, 2015. A trademark is a brand name: a word, phrase, design, sound, or symbol. For example, the designs of the "golden arches" associated with McDonald's fast food restaurants and the Nike "swoosh" are trademarks. This form of intellectual property is significant because the public learns to identify or rely on certain marks to represent a level of quality related to the products or services it purchases. In a sense, trademarks provide reassurance to the public that what they purchase will be of the same quality as other items of that [...]