Month: March 2015

ACLU Supports the Washington Redskins Trademark

Although the team has decades of history, many people find the name of the Washington professional football team offensive. The Trademark Office sided with this opinion when it canceled the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration last summer. The Office cited federal trademark law’s prohibition on the registration of disparaging marks. In spite of this latest obstacle, however, the Redskins are fighting this ruling tooth and nail, and they now have a new supporter in their corner.

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Did Macy’s Allow Their Trademark to Go Abandoned

A few decades ago there used to be a lot more variety in department stores. Robinson’s-May, Marshall Field’s, and Meier and Frank used to dot the commercial landscape. But when these stores, along with several others, were acquired by Macy’s in 2005 and subsequently rebranded with the Macy’s masthead and brand name, the overall diversity of department stores took a hit. Now, after several years of dormancy, an enterprising individual is attempting to bring back some of these nostalgic brands and commercially exploit them, selling merchandise bearing the names and logos of these brands on his website. Macy’s has responded by suing for trademark infringement, claiming it is still the owner of these brands, but by shelving them for years, has Macy’s abandoned its trademark registration rights?

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