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 [...]