Free Republic

A little-known British company has appeared to threaten Donald Trump with legal action after his foundling social media platform, Truth Social, launched with a logo that was almost identical to an existing design. The Truth Social app became available on Sunday night for Apple users and was almost immediately ridiculed for a logo that was not too dissimilar to that of a small British start-up called Trailar. Both logos use block-style shapes that form the letter “T” – making Truth Social a target of dozens of comments and comparisons with the logo for the British firm, which sells solar panel...

The NFL’s Washington franchise announced on Monday that it is officially retiring the “Redskins” part of its name. What will they go by now? We have no idea. It’s a weird move to announce a name change without a new name, and a theory is emerging that would explain why the club decided to do it that way. According to several Washington Post reporters, the preferred pick for the team’s new name is already trademarked by someone else, and the two parties are now fighting over it.

Our Nation’s history is defined by discovery, ingenuity, and innovation. Americans are known for their resourcefulness and ability to find solutions to a wide range of challenges, including the development of technologies that advance our security, health, and prosperity. This resourcefulness has been a driving force of economic growth and human development since the founding of our Nation, and our future depends on the continued protection of our intellectual property. On World Intellectual Property Day, we renew our resolve to protect and secure the works and innovations of American artists, inventors, and other creators who continually push the boundaries of...

Full title: FBI has 1,000 investigations into Chinese intellectual property theft, director Christopher Wray says, calling China the most severe counter-intelligence threat to US -- Arrests of people involved in Chinese operations to steal US corporate secrets have risen sharply in recent years Washington says problem is exacerbated by ‘Thousand Talents’ programme, which rewards Chinese professionals overseas who bring technology back to China -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation has nearly 1,000 investigations open into economic espionage and attempted intellectual property theft, nearly all of them leading back to China, FBI director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday. “There is no...

A 102-year-old brand with South Carolina roots is front and center in a federal food fight. Earlier this year, Falfurrias Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based private equity firm founded by former Bank of America chairman and CEO Hugh McColl Jr. and two other investors, acquired The C.F. Sauer Company of Richmond, Va., a condiments manufacturer that produces Duke’s Mayonnaise. C.F. Sauer is now demanding that three Greenville area businesses stop their alleged infringement of the “Duke’s” brand name. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Sauer alleges that Duke Sandwich Productions,...

A Supreme Court case to be heard this spring could have the justices dropping the F-bomb. The justices last week agreed to hear a challenge to trademark law involving a clothing brand named “FUCT” — leaving court watchers wondering how the justices will handle oral argument. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says the name appeared to be intended as a homonym for a vulgarity, and thus violates a federal law prohibiting “scandalous” trademarks. On that basis, PTO refused to register the trademark. Designer Erik Brunetti sued and won the first round in court, but in an unusual move both...

WASHINGTON – The entertainment world has seen its fair share of groups take ownership of racially charged and sexually disparaging terms: Queen and N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) are a couple notable examples. But it was The Slants – an Asian-American dance-rock quartet that sought to reappropriate a term used against them by grade-school bullies – who found themselves defending First Amendment rights before the Supreme Court earlier this year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had denied their trademark application, arguing that the band’s name was disparaging to the Asian-American community despite the fact that band members had never fielded...

RUSH: Hey, the Supreme Court has handed down a decision that’s gonna have some ramifications. They have ruled for, in favor of an Asian-American rock band that calls themselves The Slants. Snerdley, you’re a big music guy. Have you ever heard of The Slants, Asian-American rock band called The Slants? I never have. You have heard of them? You like their music? Ohhh, but you’ve not heard their music, you never heard of ’em ’til the story hit? All right. Well, get this. In a win for Asian-American rock band The Slants — and this has got possible ramifications, good...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of a law that bans offensive trademarks in a ruling that is expected to help the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name. The justices ruled that the 71-year-old trademark law barring disparaging terms infringes free speech rights. The ruling is a victory for the Asian-American rock band called the Slants, but the case was closely watched for the impact it would have on the separate dispute involving the Washington football team. Slants founder Simon Tam tried to trademark the band name in 2011, but the...

Two arrogant progressives at the US Patent Office have denied a trademark to the Washington Redskins. It appears these two people decided the name Redskins was racist or otherwise offensive. The team name has overwhelming support from the general public. After a solid year of endless attacks on the name at ESPN and other news outlets, the left has been unable to convince the public or the team that the name needs to be changed. In typical progressive fashion, they had the government do what the free market wouldn’t do. They denied the trademark clearly hoping this would force a...

Instead of letting the free market decide, two Bay Area companies are going to court to settle a long-standing dispute about whether both can be named after the self-made Hank Rearden, a central character in Ayn Rand's opus Atlas Shrugged. Steve Perlman founded Rearden LLC, a San Francisco tech incubator, in 1999, naming the company after his favorite Rand character. Rearden Commerce, a web-based concierge service that offers customers the "Rearden Personal Assistant," helps organize travel plans and links to many travel vendors. According to the lawsuit, the company's owner, Patrick Grady, "also has an affinity for Rand's 'Hank Rearden'...

The successful trademark registration of “Nordic Model” by Sweden’s Social Democrats has prompted a sharp reaction from the rest of the Nordic region's political establishment. The move has led other political bodies to protest the Social Democrats' move, which has put the question of who created the Nordic Model into ever sharper focus. "We may have understood if they had (trademarked) the 'Swedish Model', but when it comes to the 'Nordic Model' we have no choice but to protest," Jens-Erik Enestam, who heads the Nordic Council representing opposition parties from across the region, said in a statement Tuesday. Sweden's opposition...

Sarah Palin will soon be making people pay for trying to cash in on her name. The former Republican vice presidential candidate applied to get her name trademarked last year along with her daughter, Bristol. And over the past few days, the deadlines passed for anyone filing challenges against the trademarks. According to the ex-Alaska governor's application, she wants to protect her name for business and advertising purposes, political elections, entertainment services and for 'providing motivational speaking services in the field of politics.' Bristol, 20, who famously had a baby out of wedlock and appeared on 'Dancing With the Stars',...

The bids by Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol Palin to trademark their names and images have cleared a major hurdle and should soon be approved for the potential presidential candidate and her Dancing With the Stars child. Sources close to the process tell our Suzi Parker that nobody challenged Sarah Palin's trademark application. Today is the deadline to do so. They also say that Bristol Palin's went unchallenged. That deadline passed June 10. Each should receive their trademark within three months, said the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The clear sailing for both Palins is something of a...

Two days after U.S. Navy Seals Team 6 made headlines around the world for the dramatic raid that killed terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden, the Walt Disney Company trademarked their name, reports FishbowlNY. This doesn't effect how the Navy uses the moniker for military purposes, but it does mean we may soon be seeing 'Seal Team 6' branded products and entertainment. According to records viewable online with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Disney filed the Trademark paperwork on May 3, 2011 for 'Seal Team 6'.

The Department of Commerce has gone Madison Ave, baby! Yessir, under the Obama Administration we are relatin' 'round here. I needed to trademark some names and taglines that are becoming quite effective and being emulated, a.k.a., stolen, by competitors. Since I had never trademarked anything before I began my research wanting to hear from the horse's mouth, the Patents & Trademarks Office website. To my surprise they did not have written instruction. No sir, this is the video generation so our instruction was in the form of videos. To be fair, they did provide transcripts of the videos, requiring some...

http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/use-of-marine-corps-trademarks/ Also posted above url Marine Corps Trademark And Licensing Program http://www.marines.mil/unit/divpa/tmlo/Pages/faq.aspx Other info: SEE ALSO: http://forum.zazzle.com/misc/product_removal_usmc?m=222621 and... http://rovinghistorian.blogspot.com/2009/12/marine-corps-restricts-use-of-emblems.html -- **********

The US government appears to be loosening its grip on the governance of the Internet, a move welcomed by many. But critics see the government shirking its obligations to support free expression and free trade. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the private corporation that coordinates the technical oversight of the Internet's Domain Name System through a longstanding agreement with the U.S. government, on Wednesday announced a new agreement with US Department of Commerce designed to make Internet governance less unilateral and more open to international input. Questioning NTIA's statutory authority, Auerbach suggests that if NTIA can...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 7, 2009 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY On Friday, August 7, 2009, the President signed into law: H.R. 2245, the New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act, to award gold medals on behalf of the United States Congress to Neil A. Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon; Edwin E. `Buzz' Aldrin, Jr., the pilot of the lunar module and second person to walk on the moon; Michael Collins, the pilot of their Apollo 11 mission's...

WASHINGTON – The Washington Redskins won another legal victory Friday in a 17-year fight with a group of American Indians who argue the football team's trademark is racially offensive. The decision issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington doesn't address the main question of racism at the center of the case. Instead, it upholds the lower court's decision in favor of the football team on a legal technicality. The court agreed that the seven Native Americans waited too long to challenge the trademark first issued in 1967. They initially won — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...