As promised in an earlier blog post about Bulleit, bottle shapes, and blurring (“dilution” was the word I mostly used last time, but I was really eager for that alliteration), I am back with an updated blog post. As a recap to the earlier post, the case involves Diageo, the company that owns Bulleit Frontier … Read more
Remember when I said that we’d have some follow-up to Carter’s Big Mac post? Well, here is one of those posts! Today, we’ll talk about what it means to “use” a trademark. Trademarks are creatures of the relationship between the source of a product and its customers. They don’t exist without the product or the … Read more
A previous version of this blog post failed to take into account some nuance and important facts, namely that Healthy Soap (R) was actually registered on the USPTO’s Supplemental Register. Thanks to our readers for bringing this to my attention and for allowing us to expand on some important trademark basics. As the father of … Read more
I like trademark law because it often just makes sense. For example, let’s talk about the requirement that a mark must be in use in order to obtain protection. For a trademark to be registered in the United States, it has to actually be used in a way that a customer sees the mark when … Read more
Working here at Ogden Glazer + Schaefer, you get to hear about all the interesting legal battles that happen around the world. Here is one that I am surprised did not get shared with you. [Note from Erin: This post was written by Carter, our high school assistant. He is not a lawyer. He is … Read more
We help people with contracts that buy and sell their products and their businesses, license their products and their intellectual property, and lots of other things that lead to the question of “What do I charge?” Our first answer tends to be “That’s more of a business question than a legal question.” But that answer doesn’t … Read more
As a firm of trademark and alcohol attorneys, it’s always a thrill when those two topics collide, especially on a major stage. We had one of those great moments of serendipity last week. The story begins with Diageo, the company that owns Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, a brand of whiskey that might be familiar to our … Read more
Can trademarks and sports mix? To address this question, I wanted to dive in with several case studies: Of course, this Cheesehead cannot help but talk about the Green Bay Packers! The Packers’ notable trademark is it’s original one where it claims the services of “entertainment services in the form of professional football games and … Read more
My last blog post ended with a cliffhanger: but what about Jack Daniel’s and dog toys? For those of you on the edge of your seats, thanks for waiting. There are others probably thinking, “What is this guy’s deal? First, it was shoes and socks, and now it’s whiskey and dog toys?” For those readers, … Read more
This blog post builds on my previous post. This time I will be covering fair use for trademarks instead of copyright. Much like copyright, there are exceptions and limits to what protection owning a trademark can provide you, including what is and is not infringement. Fair use in the trademark space breaks down into two … Read more