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Trademark Talk – What is a Trademark?

By Intellectual Property, Advertising, Art and Fashion Law, Trademark Bulletins

A trademark can be a word, phrase, symbol, design, sound, smell, or audio visual movement.  When you hear the term “trademark,” it is often used to describe not only trademarks but service marks as well.  A service mark is a mark used for services; a trademark is a mark used on goods.

The purpose of a trademark is to identify your goods and to protect your brand from counterfeit products and fraud.  Trademarks are registered with the federal government and trademark law focuses on preventing confusion among consumers. For this reason, the central question in determining whether a trademark infringes on the rights of another trademark is whether the infringing mark is confusingly similar to the registered mark.

For example, imagine a long row of cereal boxes arranged next to each other in a grocery store.  If all the cereal boxes used the same colors, sizes, and shapes, then it would be difficult to distinguish between them. A consumer could become confused and pick the cereal they do not want. Trademark registration and federal law protects the consumer by giving each trademark limited property rights to brand owners.  Therefore, when the consumer browses that cereal aisle, the consumer can easily identify the brand of cereal it wants and not be confused by another product that it never intended to purchase.

However, trademark protection is not unlimited.  While a cereal company might use a pink leprechaun logo as a trademark on a strawberry-flavored cereal, it would not prevent someone else from using a similar design for computer repair services. This is primarily because the likelihood of creating confusion among consumers is very low.

Trademark law will not protect marks that are descriptive of the goods or services.  Businesses should use “strong” trademarks that are unique to their business. Unfortunately, descriptive words are often preferred by new businesses because descriptive words describing the business might attract new consumers.  In the long term, however, it is always better to rely on unique, as opposed to descriptive, trademarks and let a good marketing campaign attract consumers to you.

Questions about trademarks?  Contact our Trademark Practice Group Chair, Olivera Medenica, at [email protected].

Dunnington Partners Ray Dowd and Olivera Medenica Represent Law Professors Weighing In On Patentability Of Artificial Intelligence Inventions At U.S. Supreme Court

By All, Featured, Firm News, Intellectual Property, Advertising, Art and Fashion Law, Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation

Dunnington partners Ray Dowd and Olivera Medenica represent law professors supporting a challenge to the USPTO’s denial of a patent to owners of artificial intelligence systems.  The legal issue is whether an “inventor” must be a human being under the Patent Act. Read More

Art Law: Dunnington Partners Nicola Tegoni and Raymond Dowd To Speak on Cultural Patrimony At John Cabot University In Rome

By All, Featured, Immigration, Intellectual Property, Advertising, Art and Fashion Law, International, Italy Desk

Dunnington partner Nicola Tegoni, Co-Chair of Dunnington’s Italy Desk and Raymond Dowd, Chair of Dunnington’s Art Law Practice Group will be speaking at an April 14, 2023 conference at John Cabot University in Rome titled “Cultural Patrimony and the Legislative System:  Italy and the USA in Comparison.”  Read More

Data Privacy and the Risk of Exposure

By All, Corporate, Featured, Intellectual Property, Advertising, Art and Fashion Law, Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation, Privacy and Cybersecurity

If you took an Uber to meet your Bumble date and later split the tab on Cash App, you just used at least three Application Programming Interfaces or APIs.  In addition to sharing data with your date, you probably shared some of your data with Uber, Bumble, and Block, the parent company of Cash App.  Uber may share data with other third parties such as business partners or websites that integrate with Uber APIs.   Cash App may share data with other third party companies to deliver Cash App services.  Bumble may share data about users’ age, gender, and location to marketing service providers, like Meta.  Read More

Careers at Dunnington – Mid to Senior Level Corporate Associate

By Careers at Dunnington

DESCRIPTION:
Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller is a midsize Park Avenue law firm seeking a Corporate Associate with at least 5-6 years of corporate law experience to join its practice. The ideal candidate will have a solid foundation in general corporate law and significant experience working on all aspects, including drafting, of M&A private equity and other corporate transactions, from inception to closing across multiple industries and sectors. Corporate governance, securities regulation and broad contract negotiation experience are also desirable and any international transaction exposure is a plus. Collegial attitude and desire to provide superior client service are imperatives.

JOB TYPE: Full-time

JOB LOCATION: New York, NY

EDUCATION: Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school

EXPERIENCE:
• NY bar admission or the ability to waive into the NY bar
• General Corporate, M&A and commercial law transactions: 5-6 years

SALARY: $160, 000 to $190,000

TO APPLY: If you meet the criteria, please send your resume, cover letter, writing sample, and references to tcarter[at]dunnington.com.

NOTABLE BENEFITS:
• Monthly professional individual coaching.
• 12 vacation days plus 10 personal days, which increases to 20 vacation days and 10 personal days after 1 year of employment.
• Health, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance.

WHO WE ARE:
Founded in 1921, Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP is a growing New York City-based international firm that maintains its core values of reliability, trustworthiness, and commitment to excellence. Dunnington provides a full array of legal services, including counsel in Corporate, Litigation, Employment, Trust & Estates, Intellectual Property (with Fashion and Art law), Real Estate, Immigration, and Not-for-Profit practice areas. The Firm is organized into practice teams focused on Italy, France, Latin America, the United Kingdom/Commonwealth and is a member of the Cicero League of International Lawyers.

As the Firm celebrated its centennial in 2021, we are dedicated to providing clients with a personalized approach for an efficient, cost-effective way to tackle the problems at hand. Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP is a signatory to the New York City Bar’s Statement of Diversity Principles and believes that through increased diversity, the legal profession can more effectively address societal and individual needs by bringing to bear more varied perspectives, experiences, and knowledge to the practice of law.

EEO STATEMENT:
Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Careers at Dunnington – 3-5 Year Litigation Associate

By Careers at Dunnington

DESCRIPTION:
Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP is a growing midsize Park Avenue law firm founded in 1921 with an international focus seeking a Litigation Associate with at least 3-5 years of experience. The ideal candidate is a team player with excellent writing skills who understands that superior client service and satisfaction are the keys to success. The ideal candidate must also possess the ability to lead a litigation team and support litigation partners. Federal or state judicial clerkship and foreign-language skills are a plus but not required.

JOB TYPE: Full-time

JOB LOCATION: New York, NY

EDUCATION: Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school

EXPERIENCE:
• NY bar admission or the ability to waive into the NY bar
• Commercial Litigation, 3-5 years

SALARY: $120, 000 to $145,000

TO APPLY: If you meet the criteria, please send your resume, cover letter, writing sample, and references to tcarter[at]dunnington.com.

NOTABLE BENEFITS:
• Monthly professional individual coaching.
• 12 vacation days plus 10 personal days, which increases to 20 vacation days and 10 personal days after 1 year of employment.
• Health, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance.

WHO WE ARE:
Founded in 1921, Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP is a growing New York City-based international firm that maintains its core values of reliability, trustworthiness, and commitment to excellence. Dunnington provides a full array of legal services, including counsel in Corporate, Litigation, Employment, Trust & Estates, Intellectual Property (with Fashion and Art law), Real Estate, Immigration, and Not-for-Profit practice areas. The Firm is organized into practice teams focused on Italy, France, Latin America, the United Kingdom/Commonwealth and is a member of the Cicero League of International Lawyers.

As the Firm celebrated its centennial in 2021, we are dedicated to providing clients with a personalized approach for an efficient, cost-effective way to tackle the problems at hand. Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP is a signatory to the New York City Bar’s Statement of Diversity Principles and believes that through increased diversity, the legal profession can more effectively address societal and individual needs by bringing to bear more varied perspectives, experiences, and knowledge to the practice of law.

EEO STATEMENT:
Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.