News
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Continues to Operate During Government Shutdown
For my clients wondering about the federal government shutdown: The Patent & Trademark Office continues to operate. Their website reported this late Saturday ,January 20: While activities across much of the federal government ceased at 12:01 a.m. January 20, 2018,...
Celebrating our 6th Anniversary!
The law office celebrated its 6th anniversary this summer. We continue to grow, strengthen and diversify. We opened a second, satellite, office in the celebrated Merchandise Mart, in downtown Chicago. Six patents issued. These represented inventions in the fields of...
Immoral and Scandalous Trademark Clause gets “FUCT” by First Amendment
This is not your grandmother's trademark. At least for now, you may be able to trademark "immoral and scandalous" words as "FUCT." The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that trademarks are a form of personal expression, even if used for commercial purposes like...
Track One and Done! Patent allowed in under 4 months.
We are so happy to hear another client will be receiving her patent in under a year. It was my client's idea to expedite her application. We did a patent search, and found nothing. We decided to go ahead and file. When I told her patent applications typically take 2+...
Ugg(R) Gives Aussie Sheepskin Footwear Makers the Boot
News flash - Uggs® are not from Australia, at least not anymore. They are actually made in China. But you wouldn’t necessarily know that from their packaging. Technically, the trademark is just UGG®--without Australia. Deckers Outdoors, based in California, owns 28...
A New “Slant” on Disparaging Trademarks
Portland, Oregon based rock band The Slants won back the right to trademark their name. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office had denied Simon Tam and his Asian-American bandmates a trademark on grounds it disparages that ethnic group. Tam appealed to the Trademark...
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