Earlier this week, Madden NFL 16 was released. The popular video game franchise developed by EA Sports and named after John Madden was launched in 1988 as “John Madden Football” and rebranded as “Madden” in 1993. In 2005, EA and John Madden agreed to a lifetime deal related to use of his name for the game. […]
One of my earliest memories is from a road trip my family took to Washington D.C. On the way to our nation’s capitol, we hit many highlights of American culture, including a stop at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I will never forget that stop at KFC. Why? Because – after all the greasy, goodness had been consumed and […]
You may have heard that Jordan Spieth is having a pretty good year. Under Armour, which Spieth endorses, is also having a good year. The company’s stock price is way up. Its CEO recently credited three of its endorses for the boom: Steph Curry, Misty Copeland, and Jordan Spieth. As it did with Steph Curry, Under Armour appears […]
Yesterday, HBO dropped a teaser for a its new TV show Vinyl. The show, which will premiere next year, is brought to you by the superstar team of Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, and Terence Winter (of Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos fame). HBO describes the show, set in 1970s New York, as follows: A ride through the sex- and […]
On Friday, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation hits theaters. As we have written before, trademarks are important to blockbuster movies, a fact not lost on Paramount Pictures. Indeed, the studio has obtained six trademark registrations related to the Mission: Impossible franchise and has a pending application for Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. More like mission not so impossible. We could go on-and-on […]
Yesterday, Bill mentioned that LG recently filed a bunch of hair-related trademarks for use with mobile phones and computers. Today, we bring you the definitive rankings of the hairstyles LG intends to use as trademarks. 4. The Beehive Resident Trust Tree expert, Dr. Wik I. Pedia, describes the beehive as “a woman’s hairstyle in which long […]
Things on the field have been pretty bad for Washington D.C.’s NFL team the past few years. Things off the field have been worse. In June 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled that six federal registrations for the “Redskins” trademarks must be cancelled after finding that the term was disparaging of Native Americans. Today, the team’s losing […]
Last week, we discussed how a consent agreement allowed The Rolling Stones and Rolling Stone magazine to trademark their respective names. This week, we look at when and why it makes sense to enter into such a consent agreement. As the Rolling Stones famously put it, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes […]
Consent agreements are a practical way for two parties with similar or identical trademarks to overcome a rejection for likelihood of confusion. Let’s learn by way of example. The Rolling Stones are playing in our hometown tonight. At least one member of the Trust Tree team will be in the crowd. The concert got me thinking […]
The big bucks brands spend to use FIFA’s trademarks likely impacted Sepp Blatter’s decision to resign. A week ago today (on May 27), United States prosecutors issued an indictment accusing nine FIFA officials and five other executives of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and other charges relating to more than $150 million in bribes. Simultaneously, Swiss […]
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