Tag Archives: trademarks

Asian-American band “The Slants” overturns USPTO rule on “disparaging” trademarks

Portrait of Asian-American band The Slants (L-R: Tyler Chen, Ken Shima, Simon "Young" Tam, Joe X Jiang) in Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon, USA on 21st August 2015. (Photo by: Anthony Pidgeon/Redferns) (credit: Courtesy The Slants)

An Asian-American rock band called The Slants has taken a legal fight over its name all the way to an...

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Trademark Bullying: Defending Your Brand or Vexatious Business Tactics?
Recently, in a Report to Congress on trademark litigation tactics, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) defined the amorphous term Trademark Bullying or Trademark Trolling as the vexatious practice of a “trademark owner that uses its trademark rights to harass and intimidate another business beyond what the law might be reasonably interpreted to allow.” Mirroring the modus operandi exhibited by patent assertion...