Organisation: USPTO

Covenant not to sue divests trial court of jurisdiction over declaratory judgment counterclaims

In Nike Inc v Already LLC d/b/a Yums, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has considered whether Nike’s broad covenant not to sue, as well as the voluntary dismissal of its trademark claims, divested the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over Yums’ counterclaims for a declaratory judgment and cancellation of Nike’s registration for its Air Force 1 shoes.

29 November 2011

Lady Gaga fails to obtain transfer of ‘fan site’ domain name

In Germanotta v oranges arecool XD, singer Stefani Germanotta, known as Lady Gaga, has lost her bid to gain control of the domain name ‘ladygaga.org’ on the basis that it was pointing towards a non-commercial fan site. Interestingly, the respondent owned around 700 other ‘celebrity’ domain names.

09 November 2011

‘Middle finger’ bottle design not registrable as a trademark

In In re Luxuria sro, the TTAB has affirmed the denial of registration as immoral or scandalous of a bottle in the shape of a hand with its middle finger extended upwards. Among other things, the TTAB held that the US Patent and Trademark Office had met its burden of showing that the mark comprised matter that would be regarded as vulgar by a substantial composite of the general public.

02 November 2011