Federal Registration Archives - Trust Tree Legal, P.C.

Federal Registration

Accelerate Your Trademark Protection With The Amazon Brand Registry

by Randy Michels August 23, 2023

In today's digital marketplace, brand owners must safeguard their intellectual property rights. If you sell or plan to sell products on Amazon, enrolling your trademark in the Amazon Brand Registry can be a game-changer. The Amazon Brand Registry helps brand owners protect their trademarks on Amazon. Enrollment gives brand owners access to powerful tools, including proprietary text and image search, and increased authority over product listings with their brand name. The eligibility requirements for enrolling U.S. trademarks in the registry have changed over time. Initially, it was only for owners of registered word marks. Then Amazon loosened the requirements to [...]

Messi has Arrived in MLS, Expect More U.S. Trademark Applications to Follow

by Kevin Hartley August 18, 2023

On Saturday, Lionel Messi comes to our hometown for a showdown with Nashville SC for the Leagues Cup championship. Tickets to the match are . . . not inexpensive. Not surprisingly, Messi has taken the MLS by storm, scoring in every game since arriving in the league. Messi hasn’t just mastered the beautiful game. He has also implemented a masterful international trademark strategy with over 100 registered marks worldwide. Most of the registrations are for either his name or his M logo: Surprisingly, Messi’s only has one registration in the United States, which is for his M logo for a [...]

What Startups Can Learn from Harry Potter about the Value of Trademark Registrations

by Kevin Hartley June 22, 2023

Trademark attorneys often talk about how a trademark embodies the goodwill of a business. When I try to wrap my brain around the idea, I often think about my favorite part of the Harry Potter series. Toward the end of the series, Harry asks Professor Dumbledore whether something he is experiencing is real or happening in his head. Dumbledore responds, "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?" Just because it can be hard to grasp the intangible goodwill of a business it does not mean the goodwill [...]

Trademark Money Moves: Cardi B and Offset to Trademark Daughter’s Name

by Kevin Hartley August 15, 2018

In July, Cardi B and Offset introduced their daughter Kulture Kiara Cephus to the world. In August, a company registered to Offset filed an application with the USPTO to register Kulture’s name as a trademark. The application seeks to protect the mark KULTURE KIARA CEPHUS for use related to clothing, entertainment services, and merchandise, among other things. If Cardi and Offset want the application to mature into a registration, they better “Be Careful” because there is an extra requirement for a trademark application that identifies a living individual. In addition to the typical trademark filing requirements, an application for a [...]

Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee: The Trademark Rivalry

by Randy Michels November 25, 2015

It’s college football rivalry week at Trust Tree! My Vanderbilt Commodores travel to Knoxville this weekend to take on Kevin and George’s University of Tennessee Volunteers. It’s the 110th contest between the schools, and UT leads the series 74–30–5. UT is a 17.5 point favorite with an over/under of 40.5. Given Vandy’s offensive struggles, I suggest taking the under. You can thank me later. While UT is expected to win the football game, Vanderbilt is the clear victor off the field when it comes to school trademarks. Vandy has 77 live registrations and 6 pending applications while UT has 33 live […]

Celebrity Chefs Cook Up Trademark Success in Nashville

by Randy Michels October 8, 2015

Nashville is world famous for its music industry, but it’s the culinary scene that’s getting a lot of attention recently. In addition to a vibrant local food scene, celebrity chefs like Jonathan Waxman, Sean Brock, Maneet Chauhan, Dale Levitski, Richard Blais, and Donald Link have all recently opened restaurants. In today’s increasingly competitive restaurant industry, brands are probably the most valuable assets that celebrity chefs own. They play a critical role in generating demand and building relationships with customers and partners. This is known as developing “goodwill.” A trademark is an embodiment of this goodwill. A trademark is a brand name, […]

#DeepWater: The Branding of Vanderbilt Football

by Randy Michels September 3, 2015

The Vanderbilt football season opens tonight against Western Kentucky. Western is a trendy pick to beat the Commodores, but optimism reigns supreme on West End avenue (at least at this time of year). Vandy running back Ralph Webb is a budding star, and the defense should be considerably better this year with head coach Derrick Mason taking over play calling duties. Mason was a hot commodity when he was hired to replace James Franklin last year. Regarded as one of the top defensive minds in the nation, Mason was the architect behind Stanford’s dominating defenses from 2011 to 2014. During […]

Branding Lessons You Can Learn From Celebrities Like Gene Simmons

by Randy Michels August 20, 2015

Brands are often the most valuable assets that celebrities own, driving demand and building relationships with fans, customers, and partners. This is known as “goodwill.” A trademark is, by definition, an embodiment of this goodwill. Given the importance of trademarks to brand protection, celebrities often pursue federal registrations to protect their reputations, prevent consumer confusion, and ultimately their bottom line. Federal trademark registration provides important legal benefits such as a presumption of nationwide validity and the right to use the ® symbol. Federal registration can also be instrumental in enforcing rights with Google; in obtaining user names on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; and […]

Celebrate National Hot Dog Day With Trademarks!

by Randy Michels July 23, 2015

It’s National Hot Dog Day! The origin of this holiday is unclear, but considering July is National Hot Dog Month, I suppose it makes sense to have it all culminate in a single day. Of course, as the father of two young children, I sometimes feels like National Hot Dog Day is everyday. The frankfurter came to the United States with immigrants from Germany, and the wienerwurst, or wiener, came with those from Austria. The practice of eating them with bread supposedly began on Coney Island in Brooklyn in the late 1860s or early 1870s, when a German immigrant named […]

Motorcycle Gangs Hate Each Other, but Love Trademarks

by Bill Ferrell May 19, 2015

The recent tiff between rival outlaw motorcycle clubs in and outside a Waco, Texas restaurant has brought biker culture to the forefront of the news cycle. Although it’s clear that these “one percenter” clubs may strongly disagree on control of territories, criminal activities, and codes of conduct, there is one thing nearly all the outlaw clubs agree on: the importance of trademark protection. As odd as it may seem, branding and the visual representation of a brand are critically important concepts in the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs. In fact, the names and insignia emblazoned on the patches of the […]