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TTAB Posts September 2008 Hearing Schedule

John L. Welch
August 29, 2008 11:04

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has scheduled four (4) hearings for the month of September, as listed below. The hearings will be held in the East Wing of the Madison Building. [The hearing schedule and other details regarding attendance may be found at the TTAB website (lower right-hand...

Recent Articles

Precedential No. 49: Failure to Serve Notices of Opposition Leads to Swift TTAB Dismissal

John L. Welch
November 21, 2008 12:00

Opposer Schott AG shot itself in the AG when it failed to serve its notices of opposition on Applicant L'Wren Scott, as required by Rule 2.101. The Board granted Applicant's motion to dismiss and denied Schott's cross-motion for leave to amend its notices of opposition and to serve the notices....

Precedential No. 48: TTAB Resolves Procedural Spat Over Discovery Conference

John L. Welch
November 21, 2008 11:28

In this annoying but precedential decision, the Board resolved a brouhaha between the parties over their failure to hold the required Rule 2.120 discovery conference. Opposer moved for sanctions and Applicant then moved to dismiss. Guthy-Renker Corp. v. Michael Boyd, Opposition No. 91182999...

TTABlog Recommended Reading: "U.S. Declarations of Use for Madrid-Based Registrations"

John L. Welch
November 20, 2008 12:00

The November 15, 2008 INTA Bulletin includes a helpful article on "U.S. Declarations of Use for Madrid-Based Registrations," by Joseph F. Schmidt, Julie A. Katz, and Michele S. Katz (pdf here). The authors point out that the deadlines for Section 71 Declarations of Use are based on the date of...

Three New Members Appointed to Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC)

John L. Welch
November 20, 2008 11:29

COMMERCE SECRETARY GUTIERREZ NAMES NEW MEMBERS TO TRADEMARK PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEENovember 18, 2008Washington, D.C. - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez recently named three new members to the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). They will serve three-year terms on the committee,...

Fame of "KOHLER" Mark for Faucets Keys TTAB 2(d) Victory over "KOHLER HOMES"

John L. Welch
November 19, 2008 12:49

Fame was the name of the game in Kohler Co.'s Section 2(d) opposition to the marks KOHLER HOMES for "custom construction of homes" [HOMES disclaimed] and KOHLER ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS for "architectural design" [ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS disclaimed]. The Board found those marks likely to cause confusion...

TTAB Says "INTERNET AUTO RENT & SALES" Not Generic, But Merely Descriptive and Lacks Acquired Distinctiveness

John L. Welch
November 18, 2008 14:28

In this TTAB triple header, the Board considered the issues of genericness, mere descriptiveness, and acquired distinctiveness in connection with the term INTERNET AUTO RENT & SALES for "retail store services featuring new and used vehicles" and "leasing and rental of new and used vehicles"...

Precedential No. 47: "BOBBLE POPS" Merely Descriptive of Candy, Says TTAB, Colorfully

John L. Welch
November 17, 2008 20:21

In a colorfully illustrated opinion crafted by Judge Bucher (whose "trademark" is the deft use of Photoshop), the Board affirmed a Section 2(e)(1) refusal to register the mark BOBBLE POPS [BOBBLE disclaimed], finding the mark merely descriptive of candy. In re Paul Leonhardt, Serial No. 78666879...

TTABlog Paper: "TTAB Year in Review" (California Edition)

John L. Welch
November 17, 2008 16:49

Greetings from the Left Coast. Actually, after the election, one might say that there are two Left Coasts. I'm in California to give a talk on the "TTAB Year in Review" before the California Bar's IP Law Section (Paper here). Principal topics: fraud, bona fide intent to use, Section 2(e)(4) surname...

Precedential No. 43: Absent TTAB Order, No Sanction for Failure to Provide Initial Disclosures

John L. Welch
November 17, 2008 12:09

The TTAB denied Applicant's motion for sanctions for Opposer's failure to make initial disclosures. The Board ruled that the proper course was for Applicant to file a motion to compel and then, if Opposer did not comply with a resulting Board Order, to seek sanctions. Kairos Institute of Sound...