Interested in training for your team? Click here to learn more

Trademark Genericism: Minimizing Risks to Brands, Protecting Brand Value, Best Practices, and Lessons From Recent Federal and Agency Decisions

Recording of a 90-minute premium CLE webinar with Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Conducted on Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Recorded event now available

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE course will guide trademark counsel and brand owners on genericism and its threat to brands. The panel will discuss the risks of genericide to brand owners and where and how they arise. The panel also will discuss the steps companies and their counsel should take to minimize these risks. The panel will review recent federal court cases and TTAB proceedings addressing genericism and the lessons learned from those decisions.

Description

Aspirin, escalator, and trampoline are a few examples of once-valuable trademarks that became, over time, generic terms and part of the public domain, free for anyone to use, including direct competitors. In recent years, Google successfully defended against claims to cancel the GOOGLE mark alleging it had become a generic term. Brand owners and their counsel must understand the realistic risks associated with trademark genericide.

Brand owners and their counsel need to understand when and how it is appropriate to take protective action. For example, a few years ago, Velcro Corporation created a now-famous video that instructed people to stop referring to all hook and loop fasteners as "Velcro." The video informed the public that using the Velcro name violates trademark laws, and misuse can cause the company to "lose the circled R" and kill its trademark.

Similarly, Xerox Corporation has taken out ads to educate the public about proper trademark use, asking the public only to use "Xerox" to identify its products and not to use the term as a verb in place of "copy" or as a noun referring to "copies." Steps to minimize the risks of genericide are essential to safeguarding the value of the mark.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys examines genericism and the threat it poses to brands. The panel will discuss the risks of genericide to brand owners and where and how they arise. The panel will also discuss the steps companies and their counsel should take to minimize these risks. The panel will review recent federal court cases and TTAB proceedings addressing genericism and the lessons learned from those decisions.

READ MORE

Outline

  1. Genericism
  2. Risks of genericide to brands
  3. Steps to minimize risk of genericide
  4. Lessons from recent court and agency decisions

Benefits

The panel will review these and other important issues:

  • What risk does genericness pose for trademarks and brand owners?
  • Can a mark's use in every day practice demonstrate genericness? Can counsel use such evidence in litigation to prove genericness?
  • What steps should counsel take to protect marks from genericide?

Faculty

Baird, Stephen
Stephen R. Baird

Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig

Mr. Baird works with clients to address their most difficult trademark problems. He provides strategic guidance on...  |  Read More

Kim, Candice
Candice E. Kim

Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig

Ms. Kim focuses her practice on the clearance, procurement, maintenance, enforcement, licensing, and monetization of...  |  Read More

Vayner, Sabina
Sabina A. Vayner

Of Counsel
Greenberg Traurig

Ms. Vayner represents brand owners and creators across a broad spectrum of industries in trademark, copyright, and...  |  Read More

Access Anytime, Anywhere

Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video

Download