Scared?
  
Even though they weren't interested in carving pumpkins this year, they've been waiting for this day for months!
They've gone through multiple costume options—until they found the perfect ones.
Presenting: Patricia, Masha, and David Mincov, all ready for Halloween tonight...
Trick or Treat!
Interviewed by Huffington Post
In my recent interview for Huffington Post, I shared some things I've never shared before.
I thought you may find it interesting:
5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming CEO: Andrei Mincov, CEO of Trademark Factory
You may also watch the video that accompanied the interview: https://youtu.be/C1TQQM4Sdgw
Let me know what you think!
Our Best Month Ever!
October 2017 marks a very important milestone for Trademark Factory®: it was our first 6-figure month.
It brings me back to when I was just starting out.
At that point, it was a one-man show, with no money left in the bank and no clients.
After I attended a dozen seminars about building a business and read Michael Gerber's "E-Myth," I realized I had a business to build, not just legal wisdom to sell in 6-minute increments.
That led me to setting a goal that I knew I couldn't accomplish on my own, by selling my own time through "billable hours."
That goal was $50,000 a month. It looked out-of-this-world unreal!
Back then, I didn't have the courage to charge $500 an hour (as I do now) and I didn't believe I could attract enough clients to generate 200 billable hours a month! At that time, a $10,000 month seemed like a dream!
The goal I set in front of me made me think of people whose help I'd hire and of systems I'd build to grow this business beyond just me being an intellectual property lawyer.
It is what allowed me to come up with the idea of Trademark Factory®.
Yes, we're still a relatively small business.
We've still got a lot of growth ahead of us.
But today, we're celebrating!
Trademark Screw-Ups of the Month
Velcro’s video takes trademark protection to a catchy new level Hilariously brilliant song that explains the dangers of your brand becoming generic. With the example of Google having to defend its brand in the U.S., many other businesses now realize that they have allowed their brands to be used in a generic sense, which is usually the end of your monopoly over your brand. Watch the video, learn, and get some laughs!
Parrot food manufacturer squawks over trademark infringement If your trademark is borderline descriptive, you will have a hard time enforcing it against your competitors who might choose to use what you consider your own brand in a descriptive fashion. FruitBlend is a good example of this situation.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in hot water over gluten-free food label Certification marks give you a lot of power in forcing those who may want to use them to play by your rules. As explained in the article, Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (GIG) is not suing Oliver because his gluten-free recipes may or may not contain gluten. They are suing him because his using their (GF) logo without their certification.
Netflix and Escobar Family in Bitter Trademark Dispute Over 'Narcos' This is an absolutely fascinating story on so many levels. Without retelling what the dispute is about, it demonstrates the importance of having valid specimens of use when you claim past use of the mark. Claiming use of the mark in connection with "operating a website" and "game services provided online from a computer network" all the way back in 1986 is a lot more serious than it seems. It may sound funny, but in actuality, it means that the the trademark applicant knowingly provided false information, which may lead to invalidation of the application. Unfortunately, trademark owners are sometimes tempted to fabricate evidence of first use. And while these untruths may go unnoticed by the Trademarks Office, the danger is that any attempt to actually enforce the trademark may lead to its invalidation by the defendant.
Take-Two Interactive to seek Red Dead Online domain name ownership claiming trademark infringement When you own a trademark, forcing a transfer of a hijacked domain name that is clearly based on your trademark is usually a simple formality. In many cases, you won't need to go to court or even initiate a Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) dispute. A demand letter is often all you need.
Yoko Ono sues John Lemon lemonade in trademark row over Beatles legend John Lennon's name Another one of those "What were they thinking?!" moments. Indeed, this is pretty clever. And could be great marketing. But if you base your branding and your marketing campaign on parodying someone with very, very deep pockets, be prepared to find yourself on the receiving end of their legal wrath.
Rubik's Brand launches US trademark fight This case is a perfect demonstration of the differences between patents and trademarks. Patents protect the underlying idea behind the invention, while trademarks protect that which allows customers to tell products of one company from identical or similar products of everyone else. Trademarks can last forever, while patents are very short-lived. That's why every IP owner who can use trademarks to preserve their monopoly tries to get trademark protection for their IP. Courts in many cases will, however, state that what the IP owners are trying to secure should actually be protected through a patent, which, by that time, has long expired. Rubik's cube trademark is not about what the toy does and how its sides rotate—that is strictly the realm of patents. They are claiming trademark protection over color combinations. Their position is that the same principle can be used by other toy manufacturers, but there is no reason for them to use the same color combination that is unique to Rubik's cube. Different jurisdictions have decided this case differently. We're about to see what decision the U.S. courts will reach.
Gorilla Glue adhesives company reaches settlement with cannabis business So basically, under the settlement, the marijuana brand will gradually transition away from using the brand of the glue. My assumption is that they decided not to drag the case through the court system because it would have cost both parties significantly more than what they will lose as a result of the settlement. Too bad. It would have been interesting to see how broadly the glue company's trademark would extend.
Levi's Does Not Want Other Brands Using Tabs on Their Pants This is fascinating. I remember my school days in Russia in the late 1980s, and Levi's jeans were all the rage! Everyone was dreaming of getting not just any Levi's jeans. Everyone was dreaming of getting a pair of authentic Levi's jeans. And the red tab at the back pocket was one of the most valuable attributes to prove to the rest of the school that you're megacool. What's interesting though is that having started to place the tab in their jeans back in 1936, it took Levi's 81 years to realize they wanted to stop other jeans manufacturers from placing tags at the side of a back pocket? For 81 years it was OK, and now it's not? It would be interesting to see if this case ever gets to trial.
Is Uggs a Generic Name or Not? While it blows my mind how a footwear item so unattractive ever managed to become so popular, the question here is not whether you like Uggs' fashion statement. It's whether the name "Uggs" is a valid trademark or, alternatively, if it's a generic name for every foot fetishist's worst nightmare. As we have seen with many examples, Google being the biggest and the most recent one, the more ubiquitous the name, the higher the risk of the brand losing its ability to function as a brand and becoming a common term for any product or service of a particular kind. In this case, the question is, when someone refers to these hideous sheepskin boots as uggs when they are NOT released under the UGGS brand, is it a trademark infringement or is it simply calling a thing for what it is, like calling a pencil a "pencil"? We will soon find out...
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