Opener
On June 26, 2013, the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (“TTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) sustained the opposition filed by Joel Gott Wines (“JGW”) against the trademark application for GOTT LIGHT and Design for water based on JGW’s prior registrations for GOTT and JOEL GOTT for wine. A copy of the […]
Like a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape I’m fine like wine when I start to rap We need body rockin’, not perfection Let me get some action from the back section ~ “Body Movin’” by The Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys cannot be pleased and there undoubtedly will be no body rockin’ at the Syndicat Des […]
One of the many benefits of obtaining federal trademark or service mark protection is that the Trademark Office will prevent registration of marks which are confusingly similar.Yountville Partners, Inc., simply by registering its marks BRIX and BRIXX for restaurant and bar services, was successful in preventing the registration of the marks BRIX WINE CELLARS, BRIX […]
The biennial World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications wrapped up today in Bangkok, Thailand. The 2013 Symposium was hosted by the Thailand Department of Intellectual Property. The two-day Symposium featured eight educational sessions with over thirty speakers from across the world discussing issues related to the protection and enforcement of geographical […]
Much has been written about the lawsuit filed by Robert Parker’s company, The Wine Advocate, Inc. (“TWA”), against Antonio Galloni, specifically on the allegations of fraud, defamation and breach of contract. But buried on page 21 of this 26 page complaint may be one of the most intriguing aspects of this action: a request by […]
Scott Gerien, head of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty’s Intellectual Property Department, will be appearing on a panel with Judith Schvimmer, Vice President and Legal Counsel at Jackson Family Enterprises, on “Trademark Protection” on March 6 at 12:00 PST. The presentation will be a TeleBriefing sponsored by Law Seminars International In this 90-minute TeleBriefing, the panel of […]
In the United States, trademark rights may be established through the lawful use of a mark in association with goods in commerce. When one is selling a product that is not subject to government regulation, such as t-shirts, it is fairly simple to make lawful use of a mark in commerce; you label the t-shirt […]
On July 24, 2012, Wine Institute held its California Wine Export Seminar at The City Club in San Francisco. The highlight of the Seminar was a special panel presentation on the Chinese wine market featuring Maria Troen from Wine Intelligence, ZJ Tang from Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute, Pete Hou, Wine Institute’s trade representative in China, […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) recently refused registration of the mark MOCAMBO for rum based on a prior registration for the mark MOCAMBO for cigars. In refusing the registration, the TTAB found that rum and cigars are complementary products in that cigars are enjoyed with a glass […]
China is the new darling of luxury good exports, including wine. However, many wineries fail to fully consider the need to protect their trademark in China prior to doing business there. Not only is counterfeiting a problem in China, but so is trademark squatting where Chinese nationals pre-emptively register foreign company trademarks. Scott Gerien, the […]
The California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control has reevaluated and reversed its position on third-party providers conducting marketing of alcohol beverage products over the Internet, as well as the propriety of licensing a trademark for use on alcohol beverage products without being a producer with an ABC license. This has come after a stakeholder committee, which was formed […]
On October 1, 2011, Scott Gerien, head of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty’s intellectual property practice group made a presentation at the annual meeting of the International Wine Law Association in Logrono, Spain on the issue of stopping gray market wine imports in the U.S. The ability to prevent gray market imports, especially as to wine, […]
On July 14, 2011, Bastille Day, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recognized the superiority of the geographical indication (GI) “COGNAC” for spirits in Finland over a trademark application encompassing the term “KONJAKKI” for a generic reference to brandy not meeting the standard for the use of “COGNAC” as set forth by the Bureau National […]
In our monthly review of trademark applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it appears the latest trend in alcohol beverage products is “SKINNY” brands. In the month of May 2011, there were six different trademark applications filed for marks for alcohol beverage products encompassing the term “SKINNY.” These included the marks SKINNILICIOUS […]
One of the basic tenets of U.S. trademark law is that trademark rights may only be established upon use of a trademark in commerce. Whether the rights are established at common law, or whether a federal trademark application has been filed based on current use or intended use, trademark rights cannot attach until the trademark […]
Brand trends in an industry, or at least branding plans for a particular player in an industry, can often be seen before they actually debut in the market by watching trademark filings. Under U.S. Trademark Law, a brand name, or trademark, can be protected before the brand name is ever used in the marketplace. This […]
Consistent with earlier precedent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) upheld the Office’s refusal to register the trademark UPSLOPE for beer based on a prior registration for UPSLOPE for wine. In considering the likelihood of confusion between trademarks, the TTAB limits the analysis to the trademarks as shown in […]
In October of 2010, Casella Wines, the producers of YELLOW TAIL wine, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against The Wine Group claiming trademark infringement of Casella’s federally-registered wallaby design mark featured on Casella’s YELLOW TAIL wine (see below): based on The Wine Group’s use of a kangaroo design for its […]
In the WTO’s continuing efforts to move forward the 13-year old agenda on a multilateral register for geographical indications for wines and spirits, the WTO reported last week that a small working group representing the divergent positions of the various member countries had completed two additional sections of “emerging text” for the register proposal. “Emerging […]
Saintsbury, owner of the GARNET trademark for wine (U.S. Reg. No. 1,669,670), has sold the brand to the principals of Silverado Winegrowers, a long-time grower for Saintsbury and the GARNET brand with vineyard holdings throughout California. Saintsbury has used the GARNET mark along with its SAINTSBURY house mark in the manner shown in the label below: […]