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Intellectual Property Law

Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Reports on trademark law developments from Seattle and beyond. Covers trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, right to publicity, domain name disputes, and the like, with an emphasis on happenings in the Seattle area and Ninth Circuit.
By Michael Atkins

Post Frequency: 5.4/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 00:20:04

InformationWeek Blog Slams Nordstrom for Alleged TTAB Conduct

Posted on February 10, 2009
Interesting story today in InformationWeek’s Global CIO Blog. Citing a Cato Institute newsletter, it accuses Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc., of bad conduct before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The blog tells quite a story, one that starts with the PTO erroneously accepting Nordstrom’s intent-to-use application for a trademark that is confusingly similar to a registered trademark owned by two Colorado women, and ends with Nordstrom using its financial might to beat back the registrants who believe they have been wronged...

Use of Unoriginal Trademarks Risks Confusing Consumers

Posted on February 08, 2009
Dueling USA Networks: the Christian channel I found on vacation (top) and the well-known one owned by NBC Universal I’m back from vacation. I must say, I didn’t think much about trademark law while I was gone. One of the few times was when I came across a channel called “USA Network” on my hotel TV...

See You in Hawaii!

Posted on January 31, 2009
My better half and I are taking a week off in Kauai. I’ll be the relaxed sunburned guy with a smile on my face. If you see me, please say hello. Back to blogging in about a week. If I return, that is. Photo credit: Matt Wright

An Expert Witness Shares Insights on Trademark Surveys

Posted on January 28, 2009
As previewed yesterday, Graham & Dunn hosted an INTA roundtable on “Survey Evidence in Trademark Disputes.” We did things a bit differently than usual — we invited a testifying expert witness to speak. Deborah Jay, Ph.D...

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Woolrich Sues Eddie Bauer in Pennsylvania for Trademark Infringement

Posted on January 28, 2009
Plaintiff Woolrich, Inc., owner of a federal registration for THE ORIGINAL OUTDOOR CLOTHING COMPANY, has filed trademark infringement and dilution claims against Eddie Bauer, Inc., based on the Seattle company’s use of the mark THE ORIGINAL OUTDOOR OUTFITTERTM (as depicted in the sale flyer pictured above)...

Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse Database Appears to be Incomplete

Posted on January 25, 2009
As recently discussed, I’m a fan of the Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse. However, in working on my annual Western District Statistics post, I noticed a large discrepancy between the numbers that PACER indicates and the numbers the Clearinghouse counts...

Ninth Circuit Finds Federal Law, Not Tribal Law, Governs Infringement Dispute

Posted on January 22, 2009
On Jan. 20 the Ninth Circuit considered whether colorable tribal court jurisdiction existed over a nonmember’s federal trademark claims against tribal defendants for alleged passing off of cigarettes on the Internet, on the reservation of another tribe, and elsewhere...

Extra! Extra! Trial Forces Blogging Slowdown!

Posted on January 11, 2009
MILWAUKEE, WISC. - That’s right, you heard it here first. The big news is I’m in Milwaukee preparing for a trial that starts on Monday. I expect to be here for two weeks. That means my posting will be a little less frequent between now and then, though I’ll post something if I get the chance...

Third Seattle Law Blogger Meetup Scheduled for January 7

Posted on January 05, 2009
Seattle law bloggers will gather on Jan. 7 for the third Seattle Law Blogger Meetup. This installment will be co-hosted by Employment Law Blogger D. Jill Pugh and new Washington State DUI and Criminal Traffic Blogger James Kotlowski...

Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse Is Well Worth a Look

Posted on January 05, 2009
The Chicago IP Litigation Blog put me onto Stanford Law School’s new IP Litigation Clearinghouse. This is a neat site. While not completely built out, it lets users (registration required) quickly access IP case information, organized by type of case, forum, or law...

Court Finds No Trademark Abandonment Despite Unclear Standard of Proof

Posted on December 29, 2008
On Dec. 17, the Northern District of California found on summary judgment that defendant grocery store Albertsons Inc. had not abandoned its LUCKY trademark even though it shuttered all of its LUCKY-branded stores by 1999 following its merger with the owner of that chain...

District of Nevada Finds EVISA Likely to Dilute VISA Under "New" Standard

Posted on December 28, 2008
Happy holidays from STL! A little time has passed since this decision, but I didn’t want to let it go without comment. On Dec. 16, the District of Nevada found on summary judgment that defendant JSL Corp.’s use of EVISA as a trademark and domain name was likely to dilute by blurring Visa International Service Association’s VISA trademark...

Seattle Weather Calls to Mind the U.S. Postal Service's Registered Trademarks

Posted on December 21, 2008
Its motto was tested yesterday. Yes, Seattle’s famous for rain, but when we get snow, this hilly town shuts down. True to its word, the post office nonetheless got the mail through. Mostly bills and junk mail, but I suppose it can’t be blamed for that...

Microsoft Appears to Leapfrog Competing ITU Application for Search Engine Mark

Posted on December 16, 2008
On Dec. 2, I talked about how cool it was that local tech bloggers investigated WHOIS and PTO databases to learn more about Microsoft’s apparent intent to adopt KUMO as its new search engine brand. One snag that TechFlash blogger Todd Bishop pointed out was on Aug...

The Bare Facts about Naked Licensing

Posted on December 15, 2008
This morning I spoke at the Washington State Bar Association’s CLE on “Licensing Essentials.” (STL preview here.) I focused on naked licensing. Here are my slides. (Note that some formatting was altered during the upload).

Ninth Circuit Affirms Renoir-Guino False Advertising Decision

Posted on December 14, 2008
The Ninth Circuit Dec. 9 affirmed the jury’s verdict and the District of Arizona’s findings in favor of the defendants/counterclaim plaintiffs in the false advertising portion of Societe Civile Succession Richard Guino v. Renoir. The claim involved the alleged marketing of copied statutes as originals...

King County Bar Association's Bar Bulletin Features Niche Law Blogs

Posted on December 11, 2008
The King County Bar Association’s Bar Bulletin published a piece this week on “niche law blogs.” STL got a nice mention, along with the Seattle-based Trial Ad (and other) Notes and Lawlady’s Divorce Blog. Interestingly, the Lawlady’s most recent post is entitled “Trademarking your Brand, Lawlady didn’t...

Western District Dismisses Toy Maker's False Advertising Claim

Posted on December 09, 2008
The end has come for the false advertising dispute between competing makers of magnetic toy construction sets. On Dec. 5, Western District Judge James Robart granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, dismissing the remaining claim in PlastWood SRL v...

Overly-Long Goods and Services Descriptions Hamper Trademark Filings

Posted on December 09, 2008
A colleague passed on a new application for MONEYTAX. She said it had the longest goods and services description she’d seen in a while. She’s not kidding. It has hundreds of parenthetical phrases describing the applicant’s administration services, advisory services, assistance services, business services, business consulting services, business investigation services, business management services, business risk management services, consulting services, financial records services, and many, many others...

Microsoft Sues Alleged Counterfeiters in Worldwide Push

Posted on December 07, 2008
On Dec. 3, Microsoft filed 13 suits in the Western District against alleged counterfeiters. In a press release distributed the next day, the company said the suits were part of a worldwide crackdown against counterfeiters that includes 63 actions in 12 countries...

Slight Blogging Slowdown Ahead

Posted on December 04, 2008
Please forgive a slight slowdown in my posting frequency over the next couple of months. I’ve got a bunch of pre-trial work to do in December, an out-of-town trial for much of January, vacation (thankfully) for the first week of February, and I start teaching trademark law at the University of Washington in February and March...

Yoberry Cries Uncle, Agrees to Pinkberry's Permanent Injunction

Posted on December 01, 2008
Today, Western District Judge James Robart entered a Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction in Pinkberry, Inc. v. Yoberry, Inc. As STL readers may recall, the burgeoning Los Angeles-based frozen yogurt seller Pinkberry sued the Seattle-based frozen yogurt seller Yoberry for trademark infringement, alleging a likelihood of consumer confusion between the parties’ word marks and swirl designs...

Seattle Trademark Lawyer Turns 2!

Posted on November 30, 2008
Another year! That’s right — two years ago this weekend I was tapping away at my first-ever post. Ron Coleman outted me before I was ready for prime-time. I’m still not ready, and this ain’t prime-time, but the rest is history...

First-to-File Rule Convinces Western District to Transfer Cybersquatting Case

Posted on November 25, 2008
On Nov. 17, the Western District transferred the cybersquatting case of eNom, Inc. v. Philbrick to the District of New Hampshire. Judge Robert Lasnik took that step based on the first-to-file rule and in the interests of justice in light of a case between the parties in the District of New Hampsire that has been pending for 14 months...

Considerations in Drafting Trademark License Agreements

Posted on November 23, 2008
On Dec. 15, I’ll be presenting on “Litigation Planning for Licensing Attorneys” as part of the Washington State Bar Association’s CLE on “Licensing Essentials” (brochure here). Here are some drafting and negotiating considerations for trademark license agreements I put together while gearing up for the program: Parties...

Western District Partially Grants Summary Judgment on Trademark Claims

Posted on November 20, 2008
On Nov. 14, Western District Judge Robert Bryan granted and denied in part plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the trademark claims in Suarez Corporation Industries v. Earthwise Technologies, Inc. Suarez Corporation Industries sells consumer products, including portable electric space heaters, under its EDENPURE and SUN-TWIN trademarks...

Trademark Owner Has Standing to Sue Despite Noncompeting Goods

Posted on November 19, 2008
On Nov. 12, the Ninth Circuit handed down a reminder that a trademark registrant has standing to sue for infringement even when the parties’ goods do not compete. In doing so, it vacated the Central District of California’s summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s trademark claims in Halicki Films, LLC v...

Dead Celebrities (Or Their Heirs) Should Thank Trademark Law

Posted on November 18, 2008
Forbes has come out with its 2008 list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities. Jimi Hendrix isn’t on the list, though the issue made me think that dead celebrities (and especially their heirs) owe a lot to trademark law. Without statutory rights of publicity and licensing doctrines, a celebrity’s ability to turn their charisma into cash would pretty much die with them...

Western District Finds "Worm Factory" Trademark Likely Infringed by Competitor

Posted on November 16, 2008
Plaintiff Cascade Manufacturing Sales, Inc., sells a composting bin it calls the WORM FACTORY. It owns a federal registration for that mark. Defendant Provident Co. Trust and its principal, Barry Russell, sell a competing product known as the GUSANITO WORM FACTORY...

Wineries Say Soil Distinguishes Their Wines from the Competition

Posted on November 13, 2008
The Seattle Times today reports on Washington wineries’ efforts to become recognized as an official wine appellation. A neat wrinkle is the wineries not only hail from the same Naches Heights region northwest of Yakima, but they also all pledge to be organic...

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