WHIPgroup filed an opposition on behalf of its client Doctor’s Associates Inc. (“DAI”) against Janco, LLC, for its application to register the mark FLATIZZA for pizza. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sustained the Section 2(d) opposition, finding that Applicant Janco, LLC had not used the applied-for mark in commerce prior to the filing of its use-based application to register. Doctor’s Associates Inc. v. Janco, LLC, Opposition No. 91217243 (January 7, 2016). Janco had operated a single restaurant in Bothell, Washington. The Board found insufficient evidence to show that the restaurant operated in interstate commerce, and therefore found the application to be void ab initio because the mark was not used in commerce prior to the Section 1(a) filing date.
Under U.S. law, anyone who uses a system that is likely to have been made by a patented process, and who does not demonstrate that the system was not made by the patented process, is [Read More…]
Recently, WHIPGROUP engaged in an arbitration that included a five day hearing in the City. Here are some thoughts about why arbitration is different (not clearly better or worse) than litigation. Venue The AAA arbitral [Read More…]
WHIPGroup previously filed a Motion to Dismiss a patent infringement suit filed against its client TomTom in the Western District of Texas. Rather than opposing WHIPGroup’s motion to dismiss, Plaintiff MDSP Technologies LLC voluntarily dismissed [Read More…]