Category Archives: Trademarks

Are you a user of Madrid Protocol? Will you be in Washington on October 27?

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Are you a user of the Madrid Protocol? Will you be in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 27?

If so, then please consider helping the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) — and yourself — by attending a focus group of US users of the Madrid system at 7AM on that day at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, DC.  Although WIPO’s focus group will be held in conjunction with the AIPLA Annual Meeting, you do not need to be registered for the Annual Meeting to participate in the focus group.
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Malawi joins Madrid Protocol

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On September 25, 2018, the Government of Malawi deposited its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol with WIPO’s Director General, making Malawi the 102nd member of the Madrid System, which now covers 118 countries. The Protocol will enter into force for Malawi on December 25, 2018.

Starting from December 25, a trademark owner in Malawi can file a Madrid Protocol application to pursue protection in one or more Offices outside of Malawi.  And starting from that date, a trademark owner outside of Malawi can file a Subsequent Designation to Malawi (or can file a new Madrid Protocol application designating Malawi).

It is recalled that the Patent Cooperation Treaty entered into force on January 24, 1978, initially with 18 contracting states.  But perhaps not all readers appreciate that Malawi was one of those initial 18 contracting states for the PCT!  Saying this differently, Malawi was more trendy, modern, and up-to-date about the PCT than most of the 152 present-day members of the PCT.  Nobody joined PCT sooner than Malawi!

The two-letter code for Malawi is “MW”.

WIPO’s new Global IP Platform

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WIPO is developing a new Global IP Platform or GIPP.  The goal of the GIPP is to provide a personalized home page for a user of WIPO’s web site, with easy-to-find links to the various database and e-commerce systems provided by WIPO.  The user can set up an array of widgets or tiles providing access to the particular databases and systems that are of interest to the user. Continue reading →

Should USPTO ban non-electronic trademark filings?

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When I was first in practice, many years ago, the only way to file a trademark application was on paper.  Another way to say this is that the rate of e-filing was zero percent.

The US Trademark Office introduced trademark e-filing on March 20, 2000.  The first-ever electronic US trademark application was filed at 10:30 AM on that day.  Later that day, I launched the E-Trademarks listserv, an online community that continues to be very active now in 2018.

I did not have an opportunity to e-file a US trademark application for the first time until ten days later, on March 30, 2000.

Interestingly, in those early days the way that an electronically filed US trademark application got examined was that somebody at the Trademark Office printed it out on paper, and then the printout was injected into the workflow as if it had been paper-filed.  It took almost a year for the Trademark Office to implement electronic workflow for the Examining Attorneys.

By now in 2018 the rate of e-filing, depending on your metric, is something in excess of 99%.  But it seems that 99% is not good enough for the Trademark Office.  The Trademark Office would like to eliminate that last 1%, as may be seen in the Federal Register notice of May 30, 2018.  The Trademark Office proposes to mandate that only e-filing be used for trademark filings, thus eliminating the option of paper filing except in certain narrow situations.

When I was first in practice, pretty much the only way that a group of trademark practitioners could make their view heard in a rulemaking proceeding was through a professional or industry association such as INTA or AIPLA.  In recent years, however, the E-Trademarks listserv has submitted comments.  You can see comments that the listserv submitted in 2016.  And just yesterday the E-Trademarks listserv submitted comments in the present rulemaking.  You can see the comments here.

 

 

 

Meet the Bloggers XIV was a success!

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Meet the Bloggers XIV was very successful.

From left to right, blogger/sponsors Erik Pelton, John Welch, Pamela Chestek, Tara Aaron, Marty Schwimmer, Carl Oppedahl, Ron Coleman. (Not shown: blogger and sponsor Marc Randazza.)

To make sure that you hear about the details for MTB-XV in Boston in 2019, be sure to subscribe to all or nearly all of the blogs.

Monday: ten kinds of beer!

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Hopefully you are planning to attend the E-Trademarks Listserv reception this coming Monday evening, May 21 in Seattle.  This will be at the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant.  For more information, or to RSVP, click here.

I stopped by the brewery today and they gave me their list of beers that will be on tap for the reception.  You can see the detailed list here, and this is a simplified list:

  • Traditional German Biers
    • Golden Export – Dortmunder Lager – light and refreshing
    • Marzen – Oktoberfest – malty and roasted
    • Czech Pilsner – Bohemian pilsner – hoppy
    • Hefewizen – German wheat bier – fruity and spicy   
  • Modern American Craft and other styles
    • Maibock – German-style lager – malty and strong
    • Belgian pale ale – belgian ale – fruity and spicy
    • Mexi-lager – lager – light and refreshing
    • Belgian IPA – Belgo-style ale – fruity and hoppy
    • The Beast Imperial IPA – India pale ale – hoppy and strong
    • Imperial Stout – stout – dark