International preliminary examination of an international application may be requested by filing a demand under Chapter II of the PCT to obtain a preliminary and non-binding opinion on the questions whether the claimed invention appears to be novel, to involve…
I saw a designation I’ve not seen before on some packaging at Costco this weekend. We walked down the coffee aisle, and the Starbucks VIA coffee packets were branded with a NEVER BE WITHOUT GREAT COFFEE tagline followed by a…
I have written previously about the difficulties – or at least the special issues – involved in registering a trademark in connection with clothing. There is an unfortunate disconnect between the way the Trademark Office views trademarks on clothing and…
Each patent is published with a patent number upon issuance. The patent number is frequently followed with a kind code, which conveys information about the patent or its prosecution history. Other patent documents include kind codes as well. In 2001,…
Lance Armstrong’s confession is huge news today, mostly for the fact that it is being made and not so much for what it may or may not contain. Many are calling this an effort to re-brand Lance so that he…
We made it through the Mayan apocalypse, and to reward us, the USPTO has raised some of its fees. Beginning January 1, 2013, fees due to foreign offices under the PCT system will change according to: 1701 – International filing…
Except in a few cases*, a trademark will not be registered until the mark has been used. The Trademark Office won’t register a trademark unless the applicant provides proof of how the mark is used in commerce. This is a…
Jordon Trapnell guest writes: Trademark law states that any mark that is predominantly a last name cannot be registered as a federal trademark on the Principal Register. The law identifies such a name as “primarily merely” a surname, meaning the…
It is a rule we all learned in school: don’t procrastinate, don’t wait until the last minute. It is one I adhere to in my practice. There are enough complexities in the practice of patent law – adding poor timing…
What are the issues presented by the most recent editions of Triathlete and Lava magazines? Are there any? If so, could they have been avoided? For the record, Lava issued a week or two after Triathlete.