July 23, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a California attorney's arguments that registering "Trump Too Small" as a trademark constituted speech protected by the First Amendment, and a split Ninth Circuit concluded district courts have the power to cancel trademark applications during litigation. Here's a look at some of the most notable trademark decisions so far this year.
June 13, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday concluded "Trump Too Small" cannot be a registered trademark because it would violate a federal prohibition on using a living person's name without their consent, ruling against a California attorney who said using the phrase should be considered protected political speech.
January 01, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule in a case that tests the limits of registering trademarks involving living public figures with a proposed mark for "Trump Too Small," and the Federal Circuit will weigh in on an appeal that pushes the boundaries of profanities as trademarks. Here are Law360's trademark cases to watch in 2024.
November 02, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito laid his cards on the table during arguments over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's denial of a California lawyer's bid to register "Trump Too Small" as a trademark, describing himself as a lost cause for the government based on its proposed legal theory.
November 01, 2023
A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices hearing the case of a California lawyer who says his free speech rights will be infringed if he can't register "Trump Too Small" as a trademark seemed skeptical of his argument Wednesday, quizzing his attorney about how the First Amendment is violated if his client can still sell merchandise with that phrase without registration.
October 27, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court will return for its second oral arguments session Monday to consider whether a lawyer can trademark the phrase "Trump Too Small" without the former president's consent, if a public official's blocking of a social media follower is liable state action, and what the proper process is for regaining property seized by law enforcement officials.
October 27, 2023
For the third time in six years, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine whether certain restrictions to register trademarks violate applicants' freedom of speech, having already concluded that barring marks considered disparaging or immoral doesn't withstand First Amendment scrutiny.
October 26, 2023
Allegations that U.K. banking giant HSBC owes $1 billion for plundering confidential information while divvying up failed Silicon Valley Bank will go before a San Francisco federal judge Thursday. Here's a look at that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
July 31, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to hear whether a lawyer can land a trademark on the phrase "Trump Too Small," and federal courts are beginning to grapple with copyright litigation targeting the commercial use of generative artificial intelligence. Here are the top copyright and trademark cases to keep an eye on in the second half of 2023.
July 26, 2023
The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a Federal Circuit ruling that it wrongly shot down a trademark registration request regarding former President Donald Trump, arguing federal trademark law allows the government to reject certain registrations.