Intellectual Property
Jun. 10, 2013
Oprah's trademark woes provide cautionary tale
Being tertiary and often descriptive in nature, catch phrases may not be searched and cleared in the usual trademark approval process of many companies. By Richard Kirkpatrick and Laura Gustafson
A trademark "trap for the unwary" is spotlighted by a May 31 opinion by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Kelly-Brown v Oprah Winfrey, 2013 WL 2360999 (2d Cir 2013).
The practical problem illustrated by the case is the very common use in advertising of short phrases in connection with primary or secondary brands. Such "catch phrases" are often intended not to function as permanen...
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