Posts Tagged ‘standard of review’

FC Finds ornamental mark embossed on bathroom tissue hidden by packaging not S.4 “use”, unlikely to be recognized as indication of source by consumer

By Matt Jerome and Arif A. Mahmood on June 24th, 2010 in Canada: Trademarks

In Scott Paper v. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP (2010 FC 478), the Federal Court of Canada (FC) set aside a decision from the Trade-Marks Opposition Board (TMOB) and reinstated applicant Scott Paper's trade-mark application covering a daisy flower square pattern design for use with bathroom tissue.

Scott Paper had appealed under section 56 of the Trade-marks Act (the Act) against respondent Georgia-Pacific's opposition on the grounds of confusion under 12(1)(d) and subsection 6(5), lack of entitlement under subsection 16(3) to register a confusing mark and lack of distinctiveness over the respondent's own mark. (more...)

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FC Upholds Striped Toothpaste Design Mark, Rejecting Non-Distinctiveness and Functional Arguments

By Heather Michel and Arif A. Mahmood on June 2nd, 2010 in Canada: Trademarks

In Procter & Gamble Inc. v. Colgate-Palmolve Canada Inc. (2010 FC 231), the Federal Court of Canada (FC) upheld a decision of the Trade-marks Opposition Board ("the Board") rejecting the Applicant Procter & Gamble's appeal under section 56 of the Trade-marks Act (the Act) opposing the registration of the Respondent Colgate-Palmolive's trade-mark Application for a Striped Toothpaste Design.

The FC addressed the appropriate standard of review and questioned whether the Board had erred in rejecting the Applicant's opposition to trade-mark Application No. 760,655 on six grounds. (more...)

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CAFC Reiterates Supremacy of Judicial Precedent Over PTO’s Rule Making Authority In Interference Proceedings

By R.K. Arundale and Arif A. Mahmood on March 23rd, 2010 in United States: Patents

In Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. v. Cardiac Science Operating Company, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("CAFC") reversed and remanded the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington's ("District Court") order dismissing Koninklijke Philips Electronic's ("Philips") complaint with prejudice.

The District Court affirmed the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences' (the "Board") decisions, finding its "reasons for denying or dismissing each motion were grounded in the application of the Board's own procedures and regulations." On appeal, the CAFC reversed and remanded the District Court's decision. The CAFC held that the District Court improperly dismissed Philips' complaint sua sponte, thereby entering a de facto summary judgment; wrongly dismissed Philips' claim that the Board erroneously applied 37 C.F.R. §41.200(b); and improperly dismissed Philips' claim that the Board erred in denying its contingent motion to find several of the competing applicant's claims anticipated or obvious. (more...)

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FC Finds New Invoices Correlating Wares to Previously Meaningless Product Codes Demonstrates Use (II)

By Reed Taubner on January 8th, 2010 in Canada: Trademarks

In Loro Piana S.P.A. v. Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (2009 FC 1096), the Federal Court reversed a Hearing Officer's decision to delete certain wares from Loro Piana's mark, ING. LORO PIANA & C. ("the PIANA mark"), for non-use. On appeal, Loro Piana was able to show that invoices that had been before the Hearing Officer, which referred to the wares in question by code in fact established use, by filing additional exhibits explaining the meaning of those codes. The Court also held that, by adding the text "FABRICS MADE IN ITALY" and "Super 120's," Loro Piana had not deviated from the registered form of its trademark as the text would not have been perceived as forming part of the PIANA mark itself. Similarly, cautious variations can be made from a mark, in this case, Loro Piana used a script version of the PIANA mark, so long as the same dominant features of a mark are maintained and the differences are not so unimportant as not to mislead an unaware purchaser. (more...)

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FC Finds New Invoices Correlating Wares to Previously Meaningless Product Codes Demonstrates Use (I)

By Reed Taubner on January 8th, 2010 in Canada: Trademarks

In Loro Piana S.P.A. v. Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (2009 FC 1095), the Federal Court reversed a Hearing Officer's decision to delete certain wares from Loro Piana's mark ING. LORO PIANA & C. & DESIGN (the "Mark"), for non-use. On appeal, Loro Piana was able to show that invoices that had been before the Hearing Officer, which referred to the wares in question by code, in fact established use by filing additional exhibits explaining the meaning of those codes. The Court also held that by adding the text "FABRICS MADE IN ITALY," Loro Piana had not deviated from the registered form of its trademark as the text would not have been perceived as forming part of the mark itself. (more...)

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CAFC Clarifies Intent Necessary For Registration Fraud Against The PTO

By Stephanie Snyder and Arif A. Mahmood on October 10th, 2009 in United States: Trademarks

In In re Bose Corp., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("CAFC") reversed and remanded an appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") (Bose Corp. v. Hexawave, Inc.), which had cancelled Bose's trademark Serial No. 1,633,789 for the word WAVE after finding Bose had committed fraud on the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") under 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3) in renewing the registration. (more...)

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