Before Newman, Mayer, and Stoll. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: Words that are primarily a surname can be registered as trademarks if they have acquired secondary meaning, even if the public also associates the surname with a famous individual.
In 2017, New Jersey based biotech startup Modern Meadow launched Zoa™, which is inspired by leather and is the company’s first brand of biofabricated materials. Zoa™, a name derived from the Greek term for life, zoi, will feature products created with Modern Meadow’s proprietary technology. According to the Zoa website, Modern Meadow’s first generation of materials have “the ability to be any density, hold to any mold, create any shape, take on any texture, combine with any other material and be any size.”
On October 30, 2018, the Federal Circuit weighed in on Converse’s Chuck Taylor trade dress infringement lawsuit. As reported in If the IP Fits, Wear It: IP Protection For Footwear – a U.S. Perspective, Converse filed over 30 lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in October of 2014, alleging trademark infringement of its famous Chuck Taylor designs by Fila, Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, and Aldo, among others. Some of the district court cases settled in a few months, while others lasted over two years.
On October 19, 2018 plaintiffs CAR-FRESHNER Corporation (“CFC”) and Julius Sämann Ltd (“JSL”) filed suit against Balenciaga America, Inc. for alleged trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and unfair competition, under the Lanham Act and corresponding New York state law. Plaintiffs claim exclusive trademark rights in the LITTLE TREES air fresheners design in connection with a variety of goods, including key rings.
Before Reyna, Wallach, and Taranto. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
Summary: A party must file a cross-appeal when their argument requires modification of a decision. Under the APA, the final claim construction need not be identical to the proposed claim construction, so long as it is similar enough that the parties had reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Before Newman, Hughes, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Summary: Reasonable royalty patent damages cannot include a royalty for sales of non-accused products.
Before Dyk, Wallach, and Taranto. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Summary: Claims directed to improving computer security by using BIOS memory to store a license can be a non-abstract computer-functionality improvement if done by a specific technique that departs from earlier approaches to solve a specific computer problem.
Before Prost, O’Malley, and Stoll. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
Summary: Advertising costs and sales figures are relevant in determining whether a trademark is famous and, thus, whether a likelihood of confusion exists between it and another mark.
Before Dyk, Reyna, and Taranto, per curiam. Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Summary: In a case pending before TC Heartland was decided, a venue challenge based on TC Heartland’s interpretation of the venue statute is not waived as it was not “available” and can be successfully raised later in the litigation if the defendant did not delay in raising the venue challenge once it became available.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced approval for Bose to market their Bose Hearing Aid. According to the press release, the Bose Hearing Aid, which was approved through the FDA’s De Novo premarket review pathway, is the first approved hearing aid that can be self-fit and adjusted by a user.
