trademark and unfair comp. boston college law school february 6, 2008 intent to use

Trademark and Unfair Comp.

Boston College Law School

February 6, 2008

Intent to Use

Bases for Registration

• Lanham Act §1 (15 U.S.C. 1051):– (a) (1) The owner of a trademark used in

commerce may request registration ...– (b)

• (1) A person who has a bona fide intention … to use a trademark in commerce may apply to register the trademark …

• (3) … no mark shall be registered until the applicant has met the requirements for subsection[] … (d) of this section.

Intent to Use

• Lanham Act §1 (15 U.S.C. 1051):– (d) (1) Within six months after the date on

which the notice of allowance … is issued … , the applicant shall file … a verified statement that the mark is in use in commerce …

Intent to Use Procedure

ITU Application Filed Initial PTO Review

PTO Publishes

Notice of Allowance

30-Day Period for Opposition

Statement of Use Filed

6-Month Period (Extendable)

Second PTO Review

Trademark Registered

Actual Use in Commerce

Lanham Act

• Lanham Act §7(c) (15 U.S.C. 1057(c)):– Contingent on the registration of a mark …,

the filing of the application … shall constitute constructive use of the mark, conferring a right of priority, nationwide in effect

WarnerVision v. Empire

Sep. 23, 1994: TLV Files ITU App. For REAL WHEELS

Empire WarnerVision

Actual Use of REAL WHEELS

Notice of Allowance



Second PTO Review



Jan. 3, 1995: Files Use App. For REAL WHEELS

Sues to Enjoin Empire from Using Term

Eastman Kodak v. B&H

Oct. 12, 1990: Files ITU App.For 6200, 6800, 8100

Kodak Opposes: Descriptive

B&H Kodak

Notice of Allowance



Second PTO Review



Initial PTO Review

PTO Publishes

Advantages of Registration

• Nationwide constructive use - priority

• Nationwide constructive notice

• Possibility of achieving incontestability

• Presumption of validity at trial

• Right to sue in federal court

• Availability of extra remedies (e.g. attorney fees, treble damages, border exclusion …)

Registration Process

• Clearing the trademark

• Start use or have bona fide intent to use

• File application

• Examination by PTO

• Publication in Official Gazette

• Registration– Or if intent to use, notice of allowance and later

filing of statement of use; then registration

Additional Issues

• Principal v. Supplemental Register

• Foreign registrations

• Trademark registration maintenance

Bars to Registration

• Lanham Act §2: – (a) Immoral, scandalous, deceptive; disparages

– (b) Flag, coat of arms, insignia of U.S., state, etc.

– (c) Name, portrait, signature of living individual

– (d) Likely to cause confusion with other mark

– (e) Consists of mark that is:• (1) merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive

• (2) primarily geographically descriptive

• (3) primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive

• (4) primarily a surname

• (5) functional

Bars - Immoral, Scandalous

• Lanham Act §2:– Shall register mark unless it:

• “(a) Consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter, or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute”

In re Bad Frog Brewery

Scandalous or Immoral?

• Yes– MADDONA (wine)

– MESSIAS (wine)

– BUBBY TRAP (bras)

– BULLSHIT (briefcase)

– Picture of defecating dog (t-shirts)

• No– BUDDA (beachwear)

– BIG PECKER (t-shirt)

– WEEK-END SEX (magazine)

– BLACK TAIL (adult magazine)

Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc.

Other Examples










• (5) functional

Bars - Flags, Individuals


• “(b) Consists of or comprises the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any State or municipality, or of any foreign nation …

• “(c) Consists of or comprises a name, portrait, or signature identifying a particular living individual except by his written consent …”

Bars - Likely to Cause Confusion


• “(d) consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark registered … or a mark or trade name previously used in the United States by another and not abandoned, as to be likely … to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.”










• (5) functional


• Lanham Act §2:– (f) Except as expressly excluded in subsections (a), (b),

(c), (d), (e)(3), and (e)(5) of this section, nothing herein shall prevent the registration of a mark used by the applicant which has become distinctive of the applicant’s goods in commerce. The Director may accept as prima facie evidence that the mark has become distinctive … upon proof of substantially exclusive and continuous use thereof as a mark by the applicant in commerce for the five years before the date on which the claim of distinctiveness is made ….

Lanham Act §2(e)

• Descriptive– “ORGANIC” for organically

grown oranges

• Deceptive– “ORGANIC” for non-organic

oranges

• Deceptively misdescriptive– “JOE’S FAVORITE” for

oranges that aren’t Joe’s favorite

• Nondeceptively misdescriptive (arbitrary)– “ATOMIC” for oranges

• Geographically descriptive– “FLORIDA” for Florida oranges

• Geographically deceptive– “FLORIDA” for Georgia

oranges

• Geographically deceptively misdescriptive

– “FLORIDA” for auto parts from New Jersey

• Geographically nondeceptively misdescriptive (arbitrary)

– “ANTARCTIC” for Georgia oranges

Examples, Redux

Geographic

DescriptiveFlorida

(Florida Oranges)

Misdescriptive

NondeceptivelyAntarctic

(Florida Oranges)

DeceptivelyFlorida

(Georgia Oranges)(NJ Auto Parts)

§2(e)(2) - Can register if Secondary Meaning

§2(e)(3) - Cannot register

Arbitrary or suggestive - Can register

Examples

• ARIZONA (ice tea, not made in Arizona)

• NANTUCKET (fruit drinks made in Nantucket)

• CORNING (glassware products made in Corning, NY)

• HERSHEY (chocolate made in Hershey, PA and elsewhere)

• PARK AVENUE (luxury car, not made on Park Avenue)

• SWISS ARMY KNIFE (pocket knife, not made in Switz.)










• (5) functional

Administrative Details

• Next Assignment– V.A – Genericity– V.B – Abandonment

trademark and unfair comp. boston college law school february 6, 2008 intent to use

Documents