How Much Government Do We Really Need?
– James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, President, The Lukaszewski Group Division of Risdall McKinney Public Relations I’m sitting here at 7:45 a.m. moving very slowly in what is the first of...
View ArticleIntellectual Property Plaintiff Admits to Being Ignorant?
About a week ago another interesting federal intellectual property case was filed in the District of Minnesota: Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. v. Puffin Software et al. Although the four count...
View ArticleDoggone Trade Secret Issues
–Susan Perera, Attorney If you have a pup accustomed to gourmet dog treats from the Mall of America you might have an unhappy canine on your hands. Megamall kiosk owner, Chewzy Dogs, has filed suit...
View ArticleThinking About Where to Think . . . .
Our friend Jorg over at the Idea Peepshow wrote earlier this week about the importance of taking the time to think — how true. It’s good to know that Jorg’s 1949 Ford tractor serves a greater purpose...
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Incongruity in Advertising?
My post from a couple of days ago, commenting on Chick-fil-A’s EAT MOR CHIKIN slogan and the associated Cow Campaign and advertisements, neglected to discuss an issue – one so important — that I’m...
View ArticleMinnesota’s Legislative Answer to “Trademark Bullying”?
Minnesota State Representative Joyce Peppin, is convinced that “trademark bullying” is a problem and that it requires a brand new law in Minnesota to properly deal with it. Representative Peppin...
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World’s Shortest Trademark Cat Fight?
German-based Puma S.E. brought a trademark infringement lawsuit — based on the similarity of the cat logos — against Minnesota-based Arctic Cat, in the Northern District of Illinois at the end of last...
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Open Wide and Say Ahh: Probing Brand Name & Trademark Pronunciation
The current series of advertising billboards from Allianz – an international financial services company, with its parent company headquartered in Munich, Germany – are really wonderful, and their...
View ArticleTrademark Fraud Claims Won’t Go Away Despite CAFC’s In re Bose Decision
Trademark fraud claims aren’t going away, despite the fact that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has not found fraud in a single trademark opposition or cancellation since the Federal...
View ArticleMinnesota to Own “Trademark Bullies”
Minnesota is positioned once again to take legislative ownership of the ”trademark bullying” debate. Putting aside the serious questions of whether new laws are needed and whether a state as opposed to...
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Uncomfortable Medical Advertisements
The colonoscopy has been the butt of jokes among medical procedures for a long time, but it is actually no laughing matter, as the Minnesota Department of Health’s Sage Scopes graphic billboard...
View ArticleThe Hairy Underside of the Butt-Billboard Campaign
- James Mahoney, Razor’s Edge Communications Not long ago, Steve Baird posted a commentary on a colonoscopy campaign that featured attention-getting, humorous (to some) butt jokes. I liked ‘em. Thought...
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Tilt-a-Whirl Trademark, Not a Service Mark?
It is State Fair time again in Minnesota, so let’s examine the Tilt-a-Whirl brand. The brand originated in Minnesota almost 90 years ago, after the amusement park ride was invented by Herbert Sellner...
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iPhooey?
Apparently iPho by Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is quite good. The logo design is eye-popping, and dare I say clever, but does it cross one of the many legal...
View ArticleAngels in the Outfield and in the Bloodmobile
Most people likely know that the Los Angeles Angels are a baseball team. But did you know they are also a blood bank? Me neither! But according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...
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Ola Crapola!
Crapola sounds like something worth saying on the way to Chicago, after discovering the size of your PowerPoint file is too large to get through the recipient’s firewall, and then realizing the USB...
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Eat More Walleye?
It’s that time of year again, the Minnesota fishing opener is upon us this weekend, so Rapala is sporting its new billboard in the Twin Cities metro area, as shown below: “Winner, winner, walleye...
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Owning a New Look Through Advertisements
We’ve spilled a lot of digital ink on the importance of “look for” advertising when a brand owner wants to legally own a non-traditional trademark like a single color, or perhaps the shape of a...
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Rubber Hits the Road: Rust-Oleum Trademark Case Leaves TTAB for Minnesota...
Lately we’ve been discussing more and more the difference between the right to register a trademark and the right to use a trademark. In many trademark disputes the perfect forum for an amicable...
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The World Cup of Counterfeit All-Stars
There’s a sports fever in the air of the homeland of the DuetsBlog team. The World Cup final is Sunday and, from my office window, I have seen an ever-growing number of soccer fans on the rooftop lawn...
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