Posts in Trademark

The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari today in Game Plan, Inc. v. Uninterrupted IP, LLC, leaving in place a precedential decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) that affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB’s) cancellation of Game Plan’s trademark registration and dismissal of its opposition to six intent-to-use applications filed by Uninterrupted IP, LLC (UNIP).

The ongoing trademark dispute between outdoor apparel company Patagonia and environmental activist and drag performer Pattie Gonia has generated considerable public attention. To many observers, the case appears to be a clash between a large corporation and an individual activist who shares many of the company’s environmental values. But viewed through the lens of trademark law, the dispute raises a far more nuanced question.

There’s a great deal of excitement and preparation for the Olympic Games, which will come to Los Angeles and Oklahoma City in 2028. Those of us in Oklahoma City are thrilled to host two events on behalf of LA28, softball and canoe slalom. If you are a business owner in one of these cities, you may be thinking, “How can I capitalize on the Olympic Games coming to my city?” This is the first of several helpful articles in which we will walk you through the myriad of legal issues and opportunities associated with hosting the Olympic Games.

Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a trademark alert highlighting actions that the agency has taken recently to remove fraudulent and otherwise invalid marks from the federal trademark register. In 11 administrative orders issued by the USPTO since the beginning of last October, the agency has either invalidated or is targeting for invalidation around 10,500 trademark applications and registrations for reasons including forged attorney signatures and inventing non-existent trademark registration requirements and fees.

On Tuesday, May 5, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John Squires pressing him to answer questions about the Office’s role in filing a trademark application on behalf of the Trump Administration for Trump’s “Board of Peace.”

Trademark claims against Netflix concerning its popular “Running Point” comedy series were recently dismissed at the pleadings stage due to a one-letter misarticulation of applicable First Amendment law. The case, soon to be litigated on appeal, highlights the need to clarify the contours of trademark liability arising from creative works. Pepperdine University filed the lawsuit last year against Netflix and co-defendants Warner Bros. and Kaling International, just one week before the “Running Point” series premiere.  Loosely based on the life of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, the series stars Kate Hudson as the owner of the fictional basketball team the Los Angeles Waves. The popular series, which amassed instant popularity and ranked as Netflix’s #1 TV show, was quickly ordered for a second season that premiered April 23, 2026.

On April 30, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released this year’s Special 301 Report, which surveys the effectiveness of intellectual property (IP) rights and enforcement abroad and identifies foreign nations where IP protections are uncertain or disregarded. The 2026 report marks the first time in 13 years that a Priority Foreign Country (PFC) has been named, with Vietnam being identified as a PFC for persistent failures to address several long-standing IP concerns. The USTR has also added the European Union (EU) to the Special 301 Report’s Watch List, the first time since 2006 that the continental government has been identified for IP-related concerns in addition to individual European nations.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established World IP Day to commemorate April 26, 1970, the date the WIPO Convention officially took effect. Each year, the occasion serves as a global reminder of the role that intellectual property plays in encouraging innovation and creativity. This year, the World IP Day theme is “IP and Sports Ready, Set, Innovate,” recognizing the increasingly complex relationship between intellectual property rights and the multibillion-dollar global sports industry.

China was not the only actor being scrutinized today during a full Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, titled “Stealth Stealing: China’s Ongoing Theft of U.S. Innovation.”  Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) stood in for Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as Chair and opened the hearing with a warning that, in addition to its blatant IP theft—which is estimated to cost the United States between $400 billion and $600 billion per year—China is more recently evolving from “imitator to innovator.” “The United States must overcome its historic and ideological views that China is unable to innovate,” Tillis said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Rebecca Curtin, leaving in place a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) that barred her from opposing the trademark registration for “RAPUNZEL” for dolls and toy figures. The Court declined to review the CAFC’s holding that a consumer lacks the statutory entitlement to oppose a trademark registration under 15 U.S.C. § 1063 because such consumer interests fall outside the commercial zone of interests protected by the Lanham Act.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision Friday in International Medical Devices, Inc. v. Cornell, reversing the United States District Court for the Central District of California’s denial of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and patent invalidity claims. The district court had found that Dr. Robert Cornell and several other defendants misappropriated four trade secrets related to cosmetic penile implants, breached a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), and that two patents were invalid for failure to name an inventor. The CAFC reversed the denial of JMOL on those claims but affirmed the district court’s denial of JMOL for the defendants with respect to counterfeiting liability.

In 2025, trademark cases filed in United States District Courts increased 25% from 2024 (up 848 cases to 4,211). Many of those cases were “Schedule A” lawsuits, a niche form of intellectual property litigation that joins multiple foreign-based ecommerce stores selling counterfeit, pirated, or other infringing products in a single lawsuit. In Schedule A cases, plaintiffs typically include multiple offshore online infringers and seek an asset restraint to prevent them from transferring their ill-gotten gains abroad. This article explores the Schedule A litigation model and provides best practices for intellectual property litigators. 

Today, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published a study exploring challenges faced by EU small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in obtaining financing by offering intellectual property (IP) as collateral. Set against the backdrop of the EU’s recently launched Savings and Investment Union (SIU) program, the EUIPO’s study identifies several structural barriers preventing SMEs from obtaining IP-backed financing and concludes with a series of policy recommendations designed to address the SME credit gap and unlock tremendous economic value for the wider EU market.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision Wednesday in Fuente Marketing Ltd. v. Vaporous Technologies, LLC, affirming the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and holding that the Board correctly dismissed an opposition to a trademark application after finding no likelihood of confusion between the applied-for mark and registered marks.