#trademark-law

#trademark-law

In a divided decision that highlights ongoing tensions around trademark law's Failure to Function doctrine, the Federal Circuit in In re Brunetti, No. 2023-1539 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 26, 2025), vacated a TTAB refusal to register the word FUCK as a trademark for various consumer goods and retail services. The court rejected most of applicant Erik Brunetti's constitutional challenges but concluded that the Board failed to articulate a coherent standard for determining when widely-used words can function as source identifiers.

Baylor's lawsuit claims that Boston University violated a 1988 agreement regarding the interlocking BU logo, alleging consumer confusion due to the logos' similarity.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in Sunkist Growers, Inc. v. Intrastate Distributors, Inc., reversing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's dismissal of Sunkist's opposition to Intrastate's trademarks. The decision highlights concerns regarding the use of non-trademark images in assessing likelihood of confusion between similar marks.

The Fifth Circuit's ruling in Reed v. Marshall establishes that trademark infringement claims under the Lanham Act cannot be sustained between co-owners of a trademark.

A pet shop owner received a legal letter from fashion giant Hugo Boss due to the name of his company, Boss Pets, causing him distress.

The decision reaffirms the flexibility of the four-part test on false suggestion of a connection, a significant shift from prior interpretations by the TTAB.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in In re: PT Medisafe Technologies affirming the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's (TTAB) application of its test for genericness in color marks.

Mr. Messier has not alleged that he or his family make, offer for sale, or sell any products or services using a fleur-de-lis design.