Tesla won in TM battle against not vehicle but beer
Tesla China has won a high-profile trademark infringement lawsuit against the producer of “Tesla Beer” and “Tesla Soda”, underscoring the escalating battle brands wage to safeguard their identities.
ID verification will be required for attorney sponsored accounts
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announces that beginning on January 20, 2024, all existing and new attorney support staff with an attorney-sponsored USPTO.gov account will be required to verify their identity to access trademark filing systems. The USPTO is making this change after discovering that some U.S.-licensed attorneys have sponsored accounts for individuals who are not directly supervised attorney support staff, and that many of these sponsored accounts appear to be shared by multiple foreign agents and attorneys. These actions violate the Trademark Verified USPTO.gov Account Agreement (Agreement).
Honda hasn’t sold a Prelude here in America in more than two decades. The sporty two-door coupe’s place in the lineup was taken over, in effect, by the Accord coupe—another two-door that eventually went extinct in 2017.
Kai Berry 7(Nana) is a red grape descended from Shine Muscat, which was registered as a variety in January 2022. It was created by crossing Yamanashi Prefecture’s original red grape variety “Sunny Dolce” and “Shine Muscat.”
Faced with accusations that they infringed Earth, Wind & Fire’s name, a “legacy” band has made a bold counter-argument. A tribute band that was sued by Earth, Wind & Fire for trademark infringement is firing back with a bold counterargument: That the famed R&B act has actually abandoned any intellectual property rights to its name. In a court filing on Wednesday (Aug. 30), the smaller band — which calls itself Earth Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion — argued that the original group had allowed so many tribute bands to use its name without repercussion that it can no longer claim exclusive rights to it.
On August 8, Hakkai Jozo, headquartered in Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, held a press conference in Tokyo to announce the release of sake and a new corporate logo to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its founding.
UKIPO launches new digital services for trade marks
In July, the government concluded its first transformation consultation. The new consultation focuses on specific trade marks and designs issues, but also includes some proposals on patents and tribunals.
New online document inspection service
The government is proposing to introduce a new digital service that will allow the public to view documents relating to trade mark and design applications online for the first time. This will remove the archaic requirement for members of the public to attend the IPO’s offices in person or order copies of documents to view this information. This proposal will make it easier for the public to access information about IP. (from UKIPO’s website)
(2023.9.13追記)
The UKIPO transformation programme The UKIPO launched a transformation programme to modernise their trade mark and design services by the end of 2025. The aim is to replace their existing processes