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Full-Text Articles in Intellectual Property Law

N.I.G.G.A., Slumdog, Dyke, Jap, And Heeb: Reconsidering Disparaging Trademarks In A Post-Racial Era, Amanda E. Compton Mar 2014

N.I.G.G.A., Slumdog, Dyke, Jap, And Heeb: Reconsidering Disparaging Trademarks In A Post-Racial Era, Amanda E. Compton

Amanda E. Compton

Currently registration of disparaging trademarks is prohibited under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. Recent events, however, should reinvigorate the debate about the protection and registration of disparaging marks: (1) recent decisions published by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that continue to address and highlight the issues surrounding the registration of disparaging marks; (2) a proposed federal act that would not only specifically bar the registration of any trademark that includes the word “redskins,” but would also retroactively cancel any existing registration that consist of or includes that term; and (3) an amendment to a state act that …


N.I.G.G.A., Slumdog, Dyke, Jap, And Heeb: Reconsidering Disparaging Trademarks In A Post-Racial Era, Amanda E. Compton Dec 2013

N.I.G.G.A., Slumdog, Dyke, Jap, And Heeb: Reconsidering Disparaging Trademarks In A Post-Racial Era, Amanda E. Compton

Amanda E. Compton

Currently registration of disparaging trademarks is prohibited under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. Recent events, however, should reinvigorate the debate about the protection and registration of disparaging marks: (1) recent decisions published by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that continue to address and highlight the issues surrounding the registration of disparaging marks; (2) a proposed federal act that would not only specifically bar the registration of any trademark that includes the word “redskins,” but would also retroactively cancel any existing registration that consist of or includes that term; and (3) an amendment to a state act that …


Acquiring A Flavor For Trademarks: There’S No Common Taste In The World, Amanda Compton Dec 2009

Acquiring A Flavor For Trademarks: There’S No Common Taste In The World, Amanda Compton

Amanda E. Compton

This paper considers the viability of registering “flavor” as a trademark based on the decision in In re N.V. Organon. Nontraditional trademarks have long been accepted in the United States, and the possibility of being able to protect flavor as a trademark is on the horizon. In 2002, N.V. Organon, a global manufacturer of an array of prescription medicines, filed a trademark application to register “an orange flavor” for “pharmaceuticals for human use, namely, antidepressants in quick-dissolving tablets and pills.” The Examining Attorney refused registration on two grounds: (1) the matter failed to function as a trademark; and (2) the …