Interesting news that might lead to a discussion of Nontraditional Trademarks: the New York Daily News is reporting that R&B singer Trey Songz is suing Dave Hester, star of the “Storage Wars” TV show, concerning Hester’s registered trademark and trademark applications. The trademark in question is YUUUP! – you read that right. Can that be protected as a trademark?
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One Direction Sued Over Trademark
April 12, 2012
One Direction Sued Over Trademark The popular British boy band One Direction has been sued by another band with the same name, based out of California. This post will refer to the UK band as One Direction UK and the US band as One Direction US. How are these disputes analyzed, and what’s the likely outcome in this case?
Why “iPad” is Not Generic for “Tablet”
April 12, 2012
A recent story in USA Today asked whether “iPad” will become the generic term for tablet computers. While I’m glad that the media are discussing trademarks at all, I think the article didn’t accurately communicate how and why some trademarks become generic, while others don’t. Let’s take a look at the concept of Genericide, applied to how Apple positions its products, and show why “iPad” is not generic for “Tablet” in the real world. Genericide “Aspirin” was originally a trademark owned by Bayer. Over time, the word became, in the eyes of the public, a generic term for the underlying…
Baseball Trademarks
April 4, 2012
It’s time once again for my favorite season: baseball season. In that spirit, I thought I’d share a few baseball trademarks and stories.
