Tag: Trademark

B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc.: Trademark Litigation Might Get Simpler

Vedder Price

Trademark litigation includes two similar types of proceedings. First, and most common, issues of trademark infringement and cancellation of a mark may be raised in a trial (i.e., a traditional fight in either State Court or Federal District Court before a judge or jury involving oral testimony). Second, and less common, issues of trademark registration may be raised in a trademark opposition or cancellation proceeding before the Trademark Office. These proceedings are primarily conducted in writing and are governed by administrative rules published in the Federal Register based on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While a trial may result in monetary damages or an injunction preventing a party from using a mark, the Trademark Office merely has the authority to grant or cancel federal trademark registrations.

Since the Trademark Office’s process does not allow for litigants to receive monetary awards, injunctions, or even a determination of infringement, entering the Trademark Office for a cancellation or opposition simplifies the proceedings to focus on a limited number of key issues, such as whether a likelihood of confusion exists between a registered mark and another mark. Along with their limited focus and less formal nature, litigants often found comfort in a the lower costs involved in proceedings before the Trademark Office. Generally, once a trademark registration was cancelled, the owner of the mark that was cancelled would understand that a claim for infringement in court was not likely to succeed and would stop using the mark.

In B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., the United States Supreme Court was faced with the question of “[w]hether the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (the “TTAB” or the “Board”) finding of a likelihood of confusion precludes Hargis from relitigating that issue in infringement litigation, in which likelihood of confusion is an element.” The long-standing dispute (almost 20 years) between the parties involved in the decision regarded the trademarks SEALTIGHT and SEALTITE. In 1996, Hargis applied for registration of its mark, SEALTITE. B&B opposed the registration based on an alleged likelihood of confusion of Hargis’s trademark with B&B’s own federally registered mark, SEALTIGHT. After applying the standard multi-factor likelihood of confusion test, the TTAB decided in favor of B&B and held that a likelihood of confusion existed between the marks.

At the same time as the proceedings before the TTAB, B&B sued Hargis for trademark infringement in Federal District Court. After receiving a favorable outcome in the proceeding before the TTAB, B&B argued in District Court that Hargis could not contest the TTAB’s determination that a likelihood of confusion existed due to the preclusive effect of the TTAB’s decision. The District Court disagreed with B&B and allowed the jury to hear the evidence and decide on the issue of confusion. The jury returned a verdict for Hargis, finding that there was no likelihood of confusion between the marks. The parties appealed the verdict, including the issue of the preclusive effect of the TTAB decision. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court. The parties then petitioned for, and were granted, certiorari on the issue by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Eighth Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that as long as the ordinary elements of issue preclusion are met and the usages of the marks are materially the same, a finding that a likelihood of confusion exists by the TTAB should have preclusive effect in District Court proceedings.

The doctrine of “res judicata” or “issue preclusion” states that litigants should not get two bites at the same apple, or two chances to argue over the same issue. Thus, if the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found overlap (i.e., likelihood of confusion) between two marks (despite using the simplified tools involved in proceedings before the Trademark Office), then a District Court should honor the TTAB’s determination and not force the parties to relitigate the issue.

Prior to this decision, if a case was simultaneously pending in District Court and before the TTAB, the TTAB would readily stay its determination until the litigation in District Court was resolved. Because of this, any time one of the parties to an opposition or cancellation proceeding became agitated, they would file a concurrent action before a District Court. Following the Supreme Court’s decision, it is unclear if the TTAB will continue to grant this courtesy.

Trademark oppositions and cancellations must now be taken very seriously. While the TTAB cannot award damages or find infringement, its decisions could now be used as grounds for finding infringement in District Court. For example, a party who defaults in a cancellation proceeding may well lose the right to defend itself properly in District Court if a subsequent action is filed. Going forward, mark owners with proceedings before the TTAB must consider whether to intentionally abandon a trademark application or registration in order to avoid an adverse decision that could have far-reaching effects.

ARTICLE BY

John E. Munro
Alain Villeneuve
Vedder Price

Supreme Court Holds That TTAB Decisions on Likelihood of Confusion May Bind Courts in Infringement Litigation

Foley and Lardner LLP

In a 7 – 2 decision issued March 24, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held that decisions of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) on the issue of likelihood of confusion, made in registration cases, can be binding on courts in deciding the same issue in subsequent infringement cases. Such “issue preclusion” will likely arise if the uses of the marks before the court are materially the same as the uses considered by the TTAB. The decision in B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. is likely trigger more hotly contested — and more expensive — TTAB litigation.

In this case, B&B owned a registration for “Sealtight” for metal fasteners used in the aerospace industry. Hargis sought to register “Sealtite” for metal screws used in the manufacture of buildings. B&B opposed registration, claiming that use of the marks on the respective goods would create a likelihood of confusion. The TTAB agreed and sustained the opposition. In a parallel infringement action, the district court refused to be bound by the TTAB decision, reasoning that the TTAB is not an Article III court. The jury went on to find that confusion was not likely.

The Eighth Circuit affirmed. It held that while an administrative agency’s decision can be a basis for applying collateral estoppel, the doctrine was not appropriate in this context, primarily because the TTAB and the Eighth Circuit use different factors to evaluate likelihood of confusion.

In an opinion by Judge Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed. It held first that “issue preclusion is not limited to those situations in which the same issue is between two courts” (emphasis in original). Rather, under Astoria Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. v. Solomino, 501 U.S. 104 (1991), “courts may take it as a given” that Congress intends issue preclusion to apply to administrative proceedings where appropriate, except when a statutory purpose to the contrary is evident. The court held that no such purpose was evident in the Lanham Act of 1946.

The court acknowledged that the TTAB considers different factors than do courts in determining likelihood of confusion. In particular, the TTAB compares marks and goods as they are set forth in prior registrations and pending applications, whereas a court will consider all elements of the parties’ uses, including the context in which the marks appear on packaging. But the court held that the same legal standard of “likelihood of confusion” always applies, even if different usages are considered. Therefore, the possibility of applying collateral estoppel cannot be categorically ruled out.

Importantly, however, the court did not hold that issue preclusion always applies. The question depends primarily on whether the actual usages of the respective marks are “materially different” from the usages specified in the applications or registrations at issue. “If the TTAB does not consider the marketplace usage of the parties’ marks, the TTAB’s decision should have no later preclusive effect in a suit where actual usage in the marketplace is the paramount issue,” it said.

Justice Ginsburg separately concurred to emphasize this point. Quoting the authoritative McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition treatise, she noted that contested registrations are often decided upon “a comparison of the marks in the abstract and apart from their marketplace usage.” When the registration proceeding is of that character, she said, there will be no preclusion in a later infringement suit.

As a result, the preclusive effect of a prior TTAB decision will be a point of contention in a subsequent infringement action. The court will have to look closely at what the TTAB decided, and the evidence it relied upon. For example, in some cases the opposer relies on a registration which is unrestricted as to trade channels or likely purchasers, even though the opposer’s actual business may be restricted to a narrow area. This can sometimes lead to anomalous results, if the applicant seeks to register the same or similar mark for the same or similar goods, but uses its mark in entirely different fields of endeavor, such that the prospects for confusion in the “real world” are remote. Nevertheless, the TTAB will likely refuse registration in that scenario. It would appear that the B&B decision would permit the court, in a subsequent infringement case, to disregard the TTAB decision and decide “likelihood of confusion” based on the parties’ actual use.

In many cases, however, the question of preclusive effect will not be so clear cut. For this reason, parties litigating in the TTAB must consider that the TTAB decision will compel an identical result if infringement litigation ensues later. Typically, TTAB cases have been litigated in a more leisurely and less expensive manner than a court case. After B&B, some may choose to develop a fuller record to help assure preclusion in the event of a future infringement action against the applicant. This would lead to TTAB cases being litigated even more aggressively (and expensively) than they are now.

The decision may also encourage opposers, who fail to prevent registration at the TTAB, to seek review not by appeal to the federal circuit, but by the alternative means of filing a civil action in U.S. District Court under Section 21 of the Lanham Act. In such a case, the opposer would be entitled to de novo review of the TTAB decision and would be able to include infringement claims. The TTAB decision would have no preclusive effect in that case.

The B&B decision finally answers the question of which different circuits have taken different approaches. It does not, however, provide an answer to the question of whether a TTAB decision on likelihood of confusion will or will not have a preclusive effect on a court in a particular infringement litigation. That question will be determined on a case-by-case basis, under normal principles of issue preclusion.

ARTICLE BY

Andrew Baum
Foley & Lardner LLP

The Artist’s Legacy – Business and Legal Planning Issues

Sheppard Mullin Law Firm

Photographers face unique issues that must be carefully considered to ensure a continued market for the creative output and to preserve the artistic reputation. Prudently managed business affairs will minimize problems commonly encountered when closing down a studio and during the transition of business affairs from the photographer’s life to the photographer’s estate.

First, there is the issue of care for the physical works, the critical planning for the inventory, conservation and storage of the photographer’s works. Second is the issue of advantageously placing the photographer’s works; which works should be preserved, which donated, and when, where, how, including considering a sale or donation to a publicly-accessible archive as a permanent home for papers and other materials. This naturally leads to the third issue, prudent sales; how much and what part of the inventory should be released for sale each year and through what means? Is this the moment to re-examine the extant gallery relationship? These decisions require knowledge of the market, including a sense of timing, market conditions, and museum/collector interest.

Getting the house in order also includes appointing executors, attorneys, and accountants who can be trusted, who know the family or estate, who are familiar with and responsible toward the photographer’s work and the market, and who have both sensitivity and concern for the future of the photographer’s works and artistic reputation. Estate planning considerations for a photographer also include issues relevant for any individual: to provide for the surviving children, spouse and others according to the law and the photographer’s wishes so as to assure orderly transition and minimize the potential for probate litigation. For a photographer, though, preserving and enhancing a legacy also includes efficiently managing the estate to maintain continuity and safeguard the assets.

Photographers must likewise consider their intangible assets, which include copyrights, trademarks, licensing potential, and the like. It is important for photographers to register copyrights and keep track of any copyright renewal or termination rights, to be aware of current assignments and licenses of the intellectual property, and to maintain orderly files of subject releases, photographer agreements and other agreements affecting the works. Photographers should also consider licensing decisions to promote accessibility and generate revenue. It is crucial to weigh each transaction in terms of its potential for affecting the photographer’s stature in the art market. Indeed, one should consider the implications of each decision as it promotes and/or dilutes the overall value of the photographer’s oeuvre.

The photographer must identify and implement a comprehensive business and legal framework that can guide the present and govern the future in order to assure that legacy is preserved in accordance with the photographer’s wishes.

Above is the text of a handout on business and legal planning issues prepared by Christine Steiner. Christine Steiner and Lauren Liebes recently joined Weston Naef, Getty Photography Curator Emeritus, and ASA appraiser Jennifer Stoots for “What Will Become of Your Legacy”, a panel discussion at Los Angeles Center of Photography.  The panel addressed business and estate planning issues for photographers. In our next post, Lauren Liebes will address the myriad estate planning issues to consider.

ARTICLE BY

Christine Steiner
Lauren C. Liebes
OF
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

“Google It”: The Search Engine’s Trademark May Be a Verb, But It’s Not Generic

Katten Muchin Law Firm

Google defeated a claim that its GOOGLE trademark was generic, in Elliot v. Google Inc., a recent case from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

In 2012, Google filed a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Complaint against the owner of several hundred domain names that included the word “google.” The UDRP’s Administrative Panel ruled in favor of Google and ordered that the domain names be transferred to Google.

The domain name owner responded by suing Google in the Arizona district court, seeking cancellation of two of Google’s US Trademark Registrations covering search engines.

The domain name owner argued that “google” has become a generic term and is therefore not a protectable trademark. Google filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the domain name owner’s claims.

A generic term is one that identifies a general category of goods or services, while a trademark identifies the specific source of those goods or services. A trademark may become generic if the public ceases to associate the mark with a particular source of a good or service, but instead believes the term to refer to a general category of goods or services. Examples of trademarks that have become generic terms include “aspirin,” “escalator” and “videotape.”

In Elliot v. Google, the domain name owner tried to establish that the GOOGLE trademark had become a generic term for search engines. However, the domain name owner did not argue that the majority of the public understands the term “google” to refer to search engines in general. Instead, it based its genericness argument on the public’s use of the term “google” as a verb, contending that “verbs, as a matter of law, are incapable of distinguishing one service from another, and can only refer to a category of services.” The domain name owner offered media and survey evidence to support its genericness claim, but focused mostly on the public’s use of the term “google” as a verb. As a result, the court found that the evidence failed to create a genuine dispute about whether “the primary significance of the word ‘google’ to a majority of the public who utilize Internet search engines is a designation of the Google search engine.”

The court rejected the domain name owner’s genericness argument, holding that the use of a trademark as a verb does not, alone, prevent it from identifying a product or its source.

The court found the domain name owner’s reliance on verb usage as a basis for genericness “misplaced”; even if a majority of the public uses “google” as a verb to refer to the act of searching on the Internet, such usage does not make the term generic because the public still uses “GOOGLE” as a trademark to refer to Google’s search engine. Accordingly, the court granted Google’s motion for summary judgment and ruled that the GOOGLE mark is not generic. In reaching its decision, the court also noted specific steps taken by Google to prevent its GOOGLE mark from becoming generic, including using the mark to identify the Google search engine in national advertising campaigns, establishing standards for third-party use of the mark, and engaging in a pattern of enforcement measures.

The court’s decision highlights the risk that a trademark may become generic and reminds brand owners of steps they can take to prevent generic use of their marks. Brand owners can monitor both authorized and unauthorized uses of their trademarks to ensure their marks continue to function as source identifiers.

ARTICLE BY

Karen Artz Ash
Bret J. Danow
OF
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

US Supreme Court Holds that Juries Should Decide the Issue of Trademark Tacking

Mintz Levin Law Firm

In the first substantive trademark decision it has issued in a decade, the US Supreme Court, in  Hana Financial, Inc. v. Hana Bank, case number 13-1211 (January 21, 2015), affirmed the Ninth Circuit by holding that whether two marks may be tacked for purposes of determining priority is a question for the jury.

The case involved two organizations providing financial services to individuals in the United States. The Respondent Hana Bank had been operating under that name in Korea since 1991, and first began to advertise its services to Korean expatriates in the US in 1994. Advertisements for those services in the US first appeared in Korean and in English under the name “Hana Overseas Korean Club,” and included the name “Hana Bank” in Korean. In 2000, it changed the name of “Hana Overseas Korean Club” to “Hana World Center,” and in 2002 began operating a bank in the United States under the name “Hana Bank.” This latter enterprise was its first physical presence in the United States.

Petitioner Hana Financial was established in 1994 as a California corporation and began using that name and an associated trademark in 1995. In 1996, it obtained a federal trademark registration for a logo design incorporating the name “Hana Financial” for use in connection with financial services.

In 2007, Hana Financial sued Hana Bank alleging trademark infringement. Hana Bank denied infringement by claiming that under the tacking doctrine it had priority of use of the mark “Hana” for financial services in the United States. The trial jury found in favor of Hana Bank and the Ninth Circuit affirmed that decision on appeal. Since there was a split among the federal circuit courts as to whether tacking should be decided by juries or judges, the Supreme Court granted Hana Financial’s writ of certiorari.

So what is “tacking”? The general rule is that use of two marks may be “tacked together” for purposes of establishing priority of use when the original mark and the revised mark are “legal equivalents.” Marks are “legal equivalents” when they “create the same, continuing commercial impression” so that consumers “consider both as the same mark.” There is no dispute that the commercial impression that a mark conveys must be viewed through the eyes of the consumer. Thus, Justice Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous Court, stated that pursuant to long recognized doctrine, “when the relevant question is how an ordinary person or community would make an assessment, the jury is generally the decisionmaker that ought to provide the fact-intensive answer.” Accordingly, the Court held that when the facts do not warrant entry of summary judgment or judgment as a matter of law on the question of tacking, the question of whether tacking is warranted must be decided by a jury.

The lesson here for trademark owners is to ensure that archival records of your use of your marks over time are diligently maintained. This will help ensure that in the event the mark is changed in any way for purposes of modernization or otherwise, you have sufficient evidence to prove your earliest date of first use of the “legally equivalent” mark to defend against claims of infringement.

ARTICLE BY

Susan Neuberger Weller
OF
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Post Holiday Trademark Sale!!!!!!!

Giordano Halleran Ciesla Logo

The USPTO announced that they are having a sale.  You can save $50 per class on all new trademark registration applications and $100 on all renewals.  The Final Rule issued on December 16, 2014 announced that trademark filing fees will be reduced.

Small Print:  Unfortunately, the discounts will not be effective in time for the holidays.  The new discounted fees don’t kick in until January 17, 2015.  In the good news department, the discounts will continue thereafter!

ARTICLE BY

Kurt E. Anderson
OF
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, P.C.

Trademark Assignments: Keeping it Valid

Lewis Roca Rothgerber

After a trademark achieves federal registration, ownership of the mark may change hands for a variety of reasons. When a trademark owner transfers their ownership in a particular mark to someone else, it is called an assignment. Generally, for an assignment of a trademark to be valid, the assignment must also include the ‘goodwill’ associated with the mark (goodwill is an intangible asset that refers to the reputation and recognition of the mark among consumers). If the assignment of a trademark includes the mark’s goodwill and is otherwise legal, the assignee gains whatever rights the assignor had in the mark. Importantly, this includes the mark’s priority date, which has implications for protecting the mark from potential infringers going forward.

In contrast, if an assignment of a trademark is made without the mark’s accompanying goodwill, then it is considered an assignment “in gross” — and the assignment is invalid under U.S. law. Courts have analyzed whether an assignment was made in gross in a few different ways, but, as is the case with much of trademark law, protecting customers from deception and confusion is the primary motivation behind any analysis for determining the validity of an assignment.

One way courts determine if an assignment was made in gross is through the substantial similarity test. This test essentially examines whether the assignee is making a product or providing a service that is “substantially similar” to that of the assignor, such that consumers would not be deceived by the assignee’s use of the mark. This analysis includes an assessment of the quality and nature of the goods and services provided under the mark post-assignment.  Thus, even if an assignee is using the mark on the same type of goods, but the goods are of lower quality than the goods previously offered by the assignor under the mark, the assignment could be invalid. However, slight or inconsequential changes to goods and services after an assignment are not likely to invalidate the assignment, as such changes are to be expected and would not thwart consumer expectations.

Decisions on the question of substantial similarity are only marginally instructive, as the  test calls for a fact specific inquiry into what the consuming public has come to expect from the goods or services offered under a given mark. For example, courts have noted that despite similarities in services and goods, “even minor differences can be enough to threaten customer deception.”[1] Instances of products or services that were deemed not substantially similar (and thus resulted in invalid assignments) include: an assignee offering phosphate baking powder instead of alum baking powder;[2] an assignee using the mark on a pepper type beverage instead of a cola type beverage;[3] an assignee producing men’s boots as opposed to women’s boots;[4]an assignee using the mark on beer instead of whiskey;[5] and an assignee selling hi-fidelity consoles instead of audio reproduction equipment.[6]

Conversely, case law has also shown that substantial similarity can be found even when products or services do differ in some aspects, if consumers aren’t likely to be confused. For example, the following product changes did not result in a finding of an invalid assignment: an assignee offering dry cleaning detergent made with a different formula;[7]an assignee using thinner cigarette paper;[8] and an assignee selling a different breed of baby chicks.[9]

Whether goods or services are substantially similar may seem like an easy test to apply, but, as case law demonstrates, this fact-intensive analysis can yield results that look strange in the abstract. Disputes involving the validity of a trademark assignment are decided on a case-by-case basis, using the specific facts at hand to determine if consumer expectations are being met under the new use. Thus, while trademarks acquired through assignment can have significant value (and grant the assignee important rights formerly held by the assignor), assignees should be wary of changes to goods or services under an acquired mark that could be seen as deceiving the public.

ARTICLE BY

Rachel A. Nicholas
OF
Lewis Roca Rothgerber LLP

[1] Clark & Freeman Corp. v. Heartland Co. Ltd., 811 F. Supp. 137 (S.D.N.Y. 1993).

[2] Independent Baking Powder Co. v. Boorman, 175 F. 448 (C.C.D.N.J.1910).

[3] Pepsico, Inc. v. Grapette Company, 416 F.2d 285 (8th Cir. 1969).

[4] Clark & Freeman Corp. v. Heartland Co. Ltd., 811 F. Supp. 137 (S.D.N.Y. 1993).

[5] Atlas Beverage Co. v. Minneapolis Brewing Co., 113 F.2d 672 (8 Cir. 1940).

[6] H. H. Scott, Inc. v. Annapolis Electroacoustic Corp., 195 F.Supp. 208 (D.Md.1961).

[7] Glamorene Products Corp. v. Procter & Gamble Co., 538 F.2d 894 (C.C.P.A. 1976).

[8] Bambu Sales, Inc. v. Sultana Crackers, Inc., 683 F. Supp. 899 (1988).

[9] Hy-Cross Hatchery, Inc v. Osborne 303 F.2d 947, 950 (C.C.P.A. 1962)

ICANN’s gTLD Program – A Look Back and Forward

Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

ICANN’s new Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program has been in full swing for over a year now, so it seems an apt time to examine some statistics as to how brands are engaging with new gTLDs, utilizing the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), and which new gTLDs may give .com a run for its money.

gTLD Registration

While ICANN is expecting more than 1,300 gTLDs to go live in the following years, for the moment only slightly more than 400 are available. Despite the relatively slow roll-out of new top level domains (the characters following the ‘.’ in a domain name), the total number of registrations within these new domains has exceed the one million mark.

To date, the top five strings sitting atop the gTLD registrations list are: .xyz, .club, .guru, .berlin, and .photography. The most popular new string .xyz, which is marketing itself as an alternative to the crowded .com registry, has amassed nearly 525,000 registrations alone.

Interest and Adoption by Top Brands

World Trademark Review (WTR) recently explored the .xyz domain registration of the 50 most valuable brands and found that 80% had either registered or blocked their brand in this space. WTR’s review also found evidence of prevalent cybersquatting; for example, a single individual currently owns the domains names “americanexpress,” “honda,” and “homedepot” in the .xyz space.

In general, the levels of brand adoption and interaction with the gTLD program overall remains inconsistent, with some brands significantly more pro-active than others in their fields. Even when it comes to the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), companies traditionally known for brand protection, including RedBull, Nintendo, and Blackberry, have evidently decided not to register their marks with this rights protection database

Trademark Clearinghouse

The TMCH is ICANN’s centralized database of registered trademarks related to the new gTLD program. According to the most recent figures released by the TMCH, nearly 33,000 marks from 103 countries and covering 119 jurisdictions have been submitted. These marks represent protection for over 11,000 brands and businesses worldwide. Of the marks submitted, 87% have been registered by a trademark agent, approximately 50% for multiple years, and nearly 98% have been verified. The TMCH will still be accepting mark submissions and renewals indefinitely, and approximately 7,000 marks have been submitted since the beginning of the year. On November 5 of this year, the first group of TMCH registrations will be up for renewal.

The TMCH is also tasked with delivering Claims Notices to those attempting to register a domain name matching a trademarked term. In March the Clearinghouse revealed that in excess of 500,000 Claims Notices had been issued, and 95% of the infringing domain registrations were no longer being pursued. The TMCH hailed the number of delivered Claims Notices as an indication of a “high level of interest in trademarked terms from third parties,” and proof that “protection mechanisms are working.”

But, while these findings appear to suggest the success of defensive mechanisms, there are at least two alternative interpretations of the data that likely influence these numbers. First, many of the infringing domain registrations were likely the product of data-mining and unlikely to have been pursued regardless. The second is that the sheer number of Claims Notices being issued may be keeping individuals with valid applications on the sidelines. Regardless of the reasoning behind the Claims Notices, they are at least evidence of the popularity and interest surrounding the new gTLD program.

gTLD Round Two?

As the first expanded gTLD round rollout progresses towards conclusion, ICANN has begun planning the second round. The organization has stated publically that the next round is expected in 2016 at the earliest,” but experts believe 2017 is a more realistic time frame.

In preparation for the second round of gTLDs ICANN has published a Draft Work Plan. The 27 page document details several sets of reviews and activities scheduled to guide consideration for the second round of applications. The plan addressed program implementation reviews, root stability, rights protection, the GNSO, and competition, consumer trust, and choice reviews.

As the gTLD space continues to expand indefinitely, brands will have to continue to monitor and reassess how to navigate this dynamic landscape.

ARTICLE BY

Monica Riva Talley
OF
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Renewal Deadline – 1 Year Trademark Clearinghouse Registrations

Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

If your company was an early registrant in the Trademark Clearinghouse, it is likely your registrations had an effective date of November 5, 2014, the date the Clearinghouse went “live.” If so, the deadline to renew one-year registrations is November 5, 2014.

© 2014 Sterne Kessler
ARTICLE BY

Monica Riva Talley
Tracy-Gene G. Durkin
Ivy Clarice Estoesta
Julie D. Shirk
OF
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

The Redskins Decision: Much Ado About (Probably) Not Much

Dickinson Wright Logo

I’ve been having fun listening to commentators – most of whom appear to know little or nothing about trademark law – expound on last week’s decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel six trademark registrations for variations of the wordREDSKINS as the name of Washington, D.C.’s pro football team. One observer described it as a “landmark” decision, and several have prophesied that it marks “the beginning of the end” of the team’s controversial nickname.

The decision may turn out to have significant impact on the team politically and in terms of public relations. But legally
not so much.

Into the Time Machine

Many of the “beginning of the end” analyses treat the TTAB decision as a referendum on current public opinion about the Redskins name issue. A spokesman for the National Congress of American Indians, which supported the plaintiffs, said, “I don’t know how the team doesn’t recognize at this point that it’s not just a small group of Indians anymore. It’s more than that. People and fans and the country itself are saying, ‘Let’s just change the name.’”

Maybe they are – but the TTAB decision has nothing to do with that. As the dissenting judge (it was a 2-1 decision) wrote, “To be clear, this case is not about the controversy, currently playing out in the media, over whether the term “redskins,” as the name of Washington’s professional football team, is disparaging to Native Americans today.” The task before the TTAB was not to render a judgment on the propriety of naming a football team the Redskins. Rather, the task before the TTAB was to conduct a kind of time-machine research project: to determine, as a matter of empirical historical fact, whether the term Redskins was considered offensive by a “substantial composite” (not necessarily a majority) of the Native American population at the time when the first of the REDSKINS registrations was granted – in 1967.

In performing this task, the Board was limited to the evidence placed in the record by the parties. It didn’t do any independent research or fact-finding of its own, and it was not allowed to take “judicial notice” of any information that may have come its way by other means. This procedural limitation is crucial to understanding why the decision may be vulnerable to being overturned on appeal.

“DĂ©jĂ  Vu All Over Again”

It is important to bear in mind that we have passed this way before. In 1999, in a case called Harjo v. Pro Football Inc., the TTAB canceled the very same six trademark registrations for the very same reason: that the word “redskin” was considered disparaging by Native Americans at the time the registrations were granted. Pro Football appealed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and won: the court overruled the Board’s decision, holding – bear with me, this is the important part – that the evidence concerning the disparaging nature of the term “redskin” in 1967 was insufficient. The petitioners then appealed to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the district court – without disturbing the ruling on insufficient evidence. The six registrations – which had remained intact throughout the appeal process – were thus definitively preserved.

Flash forward. The case decided last week, Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc., was essentially a re-run of Harjo, with different plaintiffs but with essentially the same evidence. The parties stipulated that all the testimony, expert reports, affidavits, and other documents from Harjo would be received into evidence in Blackhorse as well, and the new petitioners made a strategic decision not to add any substantial new evidence.

Same Evidence, Same Result?

This appears to have worked well in the TTAB: the same tribunal, asked to decide the same issue by examining the same evidence, came to the same conclusion.

But the same strategic decision may backfire in the appellate courts. Note what happened in Blackhorse: the petitioners went into court armed solely with a body of evidence that a higher court had already ruled was insufficient. As the dissent inBlackhorse wrote, “The consequence of petitioners’ decision to rely on the same evidence [that was] previously found insufficient to support cancellation[,] without substantial augmentation[,] is that the evidence before the Board in this case remains insufficient as well.”

Will the appellate courts agree, and overturn the Board’s decision a second time? The picture is clouded by the fact that, owing to an intervening restructuring of the federal court system, the initial appeal might be heard this time by the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Virginia, rather than the District of Columbia. Will the new court agree with the old? Only time will tell. But the petitioners may have a hard time persuading anycourt that a body of evidence already deemed insufficient had somehow grown in stature merely as the result of growing 15 years older.

The initial aftermath of Blackhorse, however, will be much the same as that of Harjo. The TTAB has already stayed execution of the Blackhorse decision on the assumption that Pro Football will appeal. So the six REDSKINS registrations will remain in full force and effect throughout the appeal process, which could take several years (as it did last time).

What Impact?

Let’s suppose that Pro Football’s appeal ultimately fails, and that the six registrations are, finally and definitively, canceled. What then? The fact is that the impact of such an outcome on the Washington Redskins team would likely be far less than many observers have suggested.

For starters, the team would not need to change its name. The TTAB decision does not cancel the REDSKINS trademarks, only the federal registrations for those marks. To be sure, federal registration provides important benefits. But as my trademark law students could tell you, under U.S. trademark law rights ultimately come from use of a mark in commerce, and even unregistered marks can become quite strong by virtue of long-standing and widespread use, substantial investment in advertising and promotion, and strong “name recognition” among the public. By any of those measures, REDSKINS is a very strong mark indeed, and Pro Football would not find it difficult to enforce its common-law trademark rights against infringers.

Purely as a matter of legal and economic reality, the post-cancellation world of the Washington Redskins might not look much different than the current one.

IP Rights and Censorship

All this, of course, addresses only what may happen as a result of what is done in courts of law. The court of public opinion is a different matter. Blackhorse appears to have triggered significantly stronger public reaction than Harjo, which may help bring other forces to bear on the situation.

One thing that has not changed is my conviction that deciding issues of this nature is not a job for the Trademark Office. The judges who decide cases in the TTAB are experts on trademark law. They shouldn’t be expected to be experts on the kinds of social and political issues that drive cases like this one, or even on the kind of historical research questions such cases present. Nor do they have the opportunity to submit fact issues to a jury, which might be better positioned to render a verdict about what is or is not “immoral” or “scandalous.”

The Lanham Act is the only intellectual property statute that includes a censorship provision. Why do we feel it is improper to place a government “stamp of approval” (the Âź symbol) on a trademark that is “immoral” or “scandalous,” when we have no qualms about placing another such symbol (the © symbol) on copyrighted pornography or hate speech, which we do all the time?

The Redskins case raises many interesting, and important, issues. But none of them are really trademark issues. That’s why their ultimate resolution will likely have little to do with what happened in the Trademark Office last week.

Article By:

John C. Blattner
Dickinson Wright PLLC