Trademark News

Reporting on USPTO and IP industry developments. View all articles →

• Smucker Registered the Shape of Its Sandwich in 2002. Now Trader Joe's Wants That Registration Canceled.

  In August a judge kept Smucker's dilution claim against Trader Joe's alive. In October, Trader Joe's asked the court to cancel the 2002 registration for the Uncrustables shape. The 2001 file history shows what both sides are fighting over.

  Oct 13, 2026
• Jack Daniel's Loses Another 'Bad Spaniels' Round — And the TTAB Register Explains Why the Whiskey Giant Keeps Fighting

  A US appeals court ruled in August that Jack Daniel's had not proved a parody dog toy was likely to harm its reputation. The USPTO's own opposition record shows why Jack Daniel's guards its marks so aggressively, and what founders should learn from it.

  Oct 7, 2026
• The DEMON HUNTER Trademark That Netflix Filed Right Past

  A Christian metal band sued Netflix over KPOP DEMON HUNTERS. The USPTO register shows a first DEMON HUNTER registration the band let die in 2014 — and a live one it rebuilt in 2022.

  Sep 16, 2026
• The 'Twitter' Land Grab: What a Startup's USPTO Filings Reveal About Reclaiming a Dead Name

  A startup filed to seize the TWITTER trademark on the theory that X abandoned it. The USPTO register shows exactly how far that gambit has — and hasn't — gotten.

  Sep 6, 2026
• The Supreme Court will decide who measures trademark strength. Here is what measuring it looks like.

  The Supreme Court will decide whether trademark strength is a question of fact or of law. The register has been measuring strength for decades, and on RISE its two measures point in opposite directions.

  Aug 30, 2026
• Patagonia has brought 50 trademark challenges since 2023. Two-thirds never touched clothing.

  The lawsuit against a drag performer got the headlines. Patagonia’s full record at the trademark office holds 50 quieter fights — over furniture, lamps, yarn, beer and pet food.

  Aug 16, 2026
• Buc-ee's Isn't Suing Over Its Name. It's Claiming the Cartoon Animal.

  We pulled all 33 trademark oppositions Buc-ee's has filed. The word "beaver" keeps disappearing from them — and what replaces it is far broader than anyone has reported.

  Aug 5, 2026
• The Crowded BEAST: What 1,142 Trademarks Say About Spalding's Case Against MrBeast

  Spalding is suing MrBeast over basketballs branded THE BEAST. But 1,142 live BEAST trademarks share the register — and that crowd may narrow what Spalding actually owns.

  Jul 27, 2026
• The USPTO Just Refused MARLBORO MAN Again — 180 People Have Tried This and 13 Made It

  Individuals who reach for a famous word register 7.2% of the time, against 55.5% for everything else. The register shows exactly who beats the odds, and why.

  Jul 23, 2026
• Eminem Is Appealing in Australia. In February 2024 He Quietly Lost His Trademark Here Too.

  In February 2024 Eminem lost his EMINEM registration — after filing the paperwork and answering the office. Nearly half of every trademark registered in 2014 died at the same checkpoint.

  Jul 23, 2026
• How One Cuban Rum Trademark Refused to Die — and Why Founders Should Care

  A single Cuban rum registration for HAVANA CLUB has blocked Bacardi for 30 years by surviving three cancellations and a decade-late filing. Here's the business lesson.

  Jul 23, 2026
• What Coca-Cola's "Spricy" Trademark Actually Tells You — and What It Doesn't

  Coca-Cola filed to trademark "Spricy." A data look at how the company really files, why most of these names quietly die, and the one detail that says this one might be a real product.

  Jul 20, 2026
• Taylor Swift Didn't Just Get Sued Over "The Life of a Showgirl" — the USPTO Already Refused It

  What the public trademark record shows about the reverse-confusion fight — and why the most important fact was sitting in the file months before the lawsuit.

  Jul 16, 2026
• 7-Eleven v. Nike: The Trademark Case That Isn't Really About Colors

  What the USPTO and TTAB record shows about the Air Max 95 fight — and why the real question is striped trade dress, marketplace context, and Nike's own enforcement history.

  Jul 11, 2026
• Anthropic v. Abnormal: The Trademark Story Both Sides Left Out

  What the public USPTO and TTAB record actually shows about the "A\" fight — and why every brand owner should be reading their own docket, not a reporter's.

  Jul 8, 2026
• Trademark Center Guide: What Changed and What's Coming

  On January 18, 2025, the USPTO retired TEAS -- the Trademark Electronic Application System that had served as the sole online filing platform for more than 20 years -- and replaced it with Trademark Center. The transition was not a cosmetic refresh.

  Feb 20, 2026
• How the USPTO Fights Trademark Fraud (And How to Protect Yourself)

  Trademark fraud is not an abstract problem. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the United States Patent and Trademark Office removed approximately 62,000 fraudulent applications and registrations from the federal trademark register.

  Feb 18, 2026
• Trademark Scams: How to Spot Fake USPTO Notices

  Not every letter, email, call or text that looks like it comes from the USPTO actually does. Using the USPTO's own warnings, here is how to check any notice against your record in TSDR, the real deadlines and fees to compare, and where to report a scam.

  Feb 16, 2026
• The USPTO Just Made Sound and Motion Marks Searchable by Design Code

  If you've ever tried to search for sound marks in the USPTO's trademark database, you know the drill: type "sound of" into the description field, try "chime," try "melody," try "three-note sequence,"

  Feb 11, 2026
• Clawdbot Lost Its Name in 10 Seconds. Here's How to Avoid the Same Fate.

  Recently, a popular open‑source AI project effectively had to “disappear” under its original name.

  Jan 30, 2026
• How AI Is Changing Trademark Examination at the USPTO

  AI trademark examination is no longer a hypothetical. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has assembled an AI action plan with roughly two dozen initiatives designed to reshape how trademarks are filed, examined, and policed.

  Jan 29, 2026
• USPTO Trademark News: TMEP Update November 2025 (TTAB & Exam Guide Highlights)

  The USPTO has released the November 2025 edition of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP), and this update carries significant implications for trademark owners, practitioners, and anyone involved in the trademark registration process.

  Nov 22, 2025