Court: Federal Circuit

Unlawful use doctrine may (or may not) be a defence to trademark infringement in the Eleventh Circuit

The Federal Circuit found that the district court had misread the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in FN Herstal.

30 August 2024

Declaration from director of opposing company deemed sufficient evidence of prior use by PTAB and Federal Circuit

A design and standard character mark infringement dispute has highlighted the validity of a declaration as evidence. While the defendant argued abuse of discretion by the PTAB, the Federal Circuit disagreed and supported a declaration from the director of the opposing company as sufficient for refusal to register.

06 June 2024

“40 years of predictability has been discarded”: Federal Circuit applies new flexibility to design patent obviousness

The decision to apply a new, flexible standard to design patent obviousness could open design patents to more validity challenges, result in inconsistent rulings and benefit counterfeiters and aftermarket companies, attorneys warn.

29 May 2024

TTAB insufficiently weighed likelihood-of-confusion factors in cancellation action, Federal Circuit rules

In an infringement dispute involving two baby product retailers, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the TTAB erred in its application of several DuPont factors when it analysed the similarity between two marks.

07 March 2024

GO’s appeal is no-go: Federal Circuit says EVERYBODY VS RACISM fails to function as source identifier

Given the record, it was reasonable to conclude that the mark is commonly used on apparel in an informational and ornamental manner to convey an anti-racist sentiment.

21 February 2024

Federal Circuit cements threshold between sentiment and source identification in registration refusal

The informational matter doctrine has proved crucial in deciding where to draw the line between source identification and sentiment following a TTAB refusal to register the mark ‘everybody vs racism’.

15 February 2024

Federal Circuit vacates TTAB decision in dispute between two religious organisations

Drawing on previous opposition claims, the Federal Circuit has voided the board’s decision to sustain the opposition between two non-denominational internet churches. The decision highlights issues of waiver in trademark disputes that involve multi-class applications.

04 January 2024