The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses online in order to survive. In many cases, businesses had no plans to be online. Others were forced to move online more quickly than planned. In order to assist these businesses, we are preparing a series of articles discussing some of the more important legal issues to...
Client AlertsIntellectual PropertyBringing Your Business Online: Creating Enforceable Contracts
March 12, 2020
The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses online in order to survive. In many cases, businesses had no plans to be online. Others were forced to move online more quickly than planned. In order to assist these businesses, we are preparing a series of articles discussing some of the more important legal issues to...
Intellectual PropertyNewsCybersecurity Legislation Expressly Applicable To The Insurance Industry Is Coming Sooner or Later, Rhode Island. Are You Ready?
January 12, 2020
Hackers are not going away. Media reports of massive data breaches at banks, retailers, credit card companies, credit bureaus, and others have become a near-daily occurrence. And insurance companies collect large amounts of sensitive, non-public information, including personally-identifying information. There is little doubt that insurers are ripe targets for cyberattacks. As a result, in 2014...
Intellectual PropertyMedia MentionsJohn E. Ottaviani Comments On Unintended Consequences In USPTO’s Questioning Of Trademark Applicants
September 5, 2019
John E. Ottaviani, Partner in the Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group, provided some context to World Trademark Review on the issue of some trademark applicants suddenly being asked to show “proof of legal residence in the U.S.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is suffering backlash from its examining attorneys, who are now required by...
Client AlertsIntellectual PropertyTom Brady’s “Tom Terrific” U.S. Trademark Applications Thrown For A Loss
August 26, 2019
Tom Brady may be the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. But his efforts to register a TOM TERRIFIC trademark for T-shirts and posters and sporting cards have been thrown for a loss at the hands of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The applications serve as a reminder that U.S. trademark law does...
USPTO Requires Non-US Trademark Applicants to Retain US-Licensed Attorneys The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced new rules that went into effect 3 August 2019. Under the new rules, all filings, including new applications and renewal applications, filed by a person or entity not domiciled in the U.S. must be filed by an attorney licensed to practice...
Intellectual PropertyNewsJohn E. Ottaviani Comments In World Trademark Review on “Return To Normal” In Trademark Filings
August 9, 2019
As he did earlier this month, John E. Ottaviani once again provided his insight to World Trademark Review, analyzing the rollercoaster in filings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Earlier this month, John discussed the unprecedented surge in trademark filings in advance of a new USPTO rule that went into effect August 3....
Client AlertsIntellectual PropertySaving Costs In the U.S. Trademark Process – Draft The Identification Of Goods And Services Narrowly
July 30, 2019
By John E. Ottaviani One of the most common reasons U.S. trademark applications receive Office Actions is that the identification of goods and services covered by the application is indefinite or too broad. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requires that the identification of products and services be very specific. This practice is different...
Client AlertsIntellectual PropertyU.S. Supreme Court Opens The Door To Registering “Immoral” And “Scandalous” Trademarks
June 24, 2019
In a 6-3 decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared a provision of the federal trademark law unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment protection of free speech. The provision in question permits the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to refuse to register trademarks that consist of or comprise “immoral”...
Don’t Forget To Preserve Evidence Of Your Bona Fide Intention To Use The Mark Businesses often have misconceptions about trademark issues in the United States. One very common “trap for the unwary” results from the ability to file a trademark application without having to demonstrate that the mark is in use at the time the...
