IP & Technology Law Trends
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Christian Louboutin Claims Victory in EU Court Trademark Battle Over Its Iconic Red-Soled Shoes
On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, the European Union's (EU) highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the CJEU) (La Cour de justice de l'Union européenne), held that French designer Christian Louboutin's mark consisting of a color applied t...
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Federal Circuit Strikes Down the Lanham Act's Ban on Scandalous and Immoral Marks in the Wake of Tam
In the wake of Matal v. Tam, where the Supremes unanimously held that the "disparagement clause" in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court o...
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Portland Band The Slants Singing a Happy Tune After the Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That the Disparagement Clause Violates the First Amendment
Background
Yesterday, six months after hearing oral argument (and nearly six years after Simon Tam filed his trademark application for "THE SLANTS"), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's en b...
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USPTO Switches Gears on Registration of Disparaging Marks, but Not on Scandalous Marks
On June 26, 2017, a week after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the "disparagement clause" in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment in Matal v. Tam, the U.S. Patent and...
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The Supremes Unanimously Limit the Galactic Design-Patent-Infringement Damages Award in One of the Apple v. Samsung Design-Patent Wars
More than 120 years have passed since the United States Supreme Court last tackled the issue of damages in design-patent cases. This month, the Court put an end to that silence with its decision in Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc., handing Samsu...
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The Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Portland Band The Slants' Trademark Case
On Wednesday, January 18, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Lee v. Tam, a case reviewing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's en banc decision in In re Tam holding that the disparagement provision in Section 2(a) of t...
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