Trademark

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Granny can’t catch a break. In the food and beverage industry, “NANA”-formative trademarks are plentiful.  However, the owner of several such marks has overstepped its bounds, asserts Nana Joe’s LLC in its complaint filed earlier this month in the Eastern District of Texas.  Nana Joe’s makes vegan and gluten free granola products, and has branded…

Talk show host and cannabis mogul Montel Williams recently filed suit against multiple medical marijuana retailers under the Lanham Act and Florida state law for trademark infringement, false advertising, violations of the right to publicity and right to privacy, and unfair business practices. Williams markets a line of medical-grade cannabidiol, or CBD, oils for use…

Last month, gluten intolerance advocacy group Gluten Intolerance Group (“GIG”) sued celebrity chef Jamie Oliver for trademark infringement and unfair business practices under the Lanham Act and state consumer protection laws in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. According to the complaint, GIG is an independent organization that certifies food producers…

In the highly-publicized case about unauthorized reselling of Trader Joe’s merchandise by renegade Canadian merchant “Pirate Joe’s,” social media provided the powder keg for Trader Joe’s arbitration enforcement demand. The case set sail in May 2013, when Trader Joe’s sued Pirate Joe’s proprietor Michael Hallatt for federal trademark infringement and violations of Washington state consumer…

Delta Airlines, Inc. (“Delta”) sued a handful of defendants in Federal court last week over a pet shipment website that appears to be affiliated with the company. Delta is seeking an injunction and damages against John Doe defendants. The complaint alleges federal trademark infringement and counterfeiting, wire fraud, unfair competition, tarnishment of a famous mark…

U.S. District Court in Utah decided an interesting case involving whether an advertiser can use the word “local” in Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. v. Leland Sycamore et al.  Defendant Leland Sycamore had invented the trade secret process and formula for making “Grandma Sycamore’s Home-Maid Bread.”  After securing trademark registration for the bread packaging design,…

The San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) and the proprietors of Utah’s “Salt Lake Comic Con” sparred recently in summary judgment arguments over the SDCC’s COMIC CON trademark. The SDCC owns four registrations for COMIC CON, and claims that Dan Farr Productions and other defendants infringed those trademarks by capitalizing upon the fame and goodwill of…

Earlier this week, a unanimous but fractured Supreme Court ruled that a controversial provision in the Lanham Act prohibiting the registration of trademarks that disparage “persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols” violates the First Amendment. This decision may be most remembered for the impact it may have on the NFL’s Washington Redskins,…

Parody consumer-goods brands and fans of tongue-in-cheek humor have reason to be relieved after a federal court of appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment against luxury handbag maker Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. (“Louis Vuitton”), dismissing its lawsuit against My Other Bag, Inc. (“MOB”), a seller of parody canvas tote bags. Louis Vuitton brought suit…