SDO 559: Trademark Law
Assuming the statements are false, which of the following are examples of actionable false advertising:
"We serve the best coffee in town." "Come buy the softest mattress you will ever feel." "The first person to buy our new variety of cheddar cheese gets a free trip to the moon." *None of the above*
Which of the following forms of confusion are recognized under the law?
Actual, initial interest, post-sale, and reverse confusion
Which of the following trademark application types require proof of actual use prior to issuance of the trademark registration?
Both Section (a)(1) and (a)(2) Applications
A federal trademark registration operates as constructive use throughout the U.S. and gives the registrant the right to enjoin a subsequent user from using the trademark even if the registrant is not likely to expand into the later user's geographic area.
False
A mark that is regionally well-known in the U.S. can be a famous mark.
False
A person's name is not permitted to become an enforceable trademark against others having the same last name who wish to use the last name for their business.
False
A trademark owner who polices uses of the mark cannot be deemed to have lost rights in the mark due to genericness.
False
All nominative and descriptive uses are defenses to dilution claims.
False
An earlier-filed "Intent-to-Use" Application (App 1) that later issues as a registration would have priority over a later filed "Actual Use" Application (App 2).
False
An individual consumer who identifies a materially false and misleading advertisement typically has standing to sue the company guilty of the false advertising.
False
Applying the mark "Mercedes" to furniture is an example of dilution by tarnishment.
False
Dilution by blurring occurs in a situation where someone associates a famous trademark with drug paraphernalia.
False
Generic Marks that have been shown to have acquired secondary meaning are registerable on the Principal Register.
False
Geographic terms such as city names are not permitted to become enforceable trademarks against others who wish to also use the geographic term for their business.
False
If you have a federally registered trademark, Twitter is required to give you the matching account name.
False
In a confusion analysis, it is impermissible to subdivide a mark into components to identify a dominant portion, such as "Mc" in "McMuffin."
False
Inherently distinctive marks (such as newly made-up words) are not subject to opposition during the USPTO examination process.
False
Owners of unregistered trademarks are not permitted to sue in Federal courts.
False
Registering an online domain name (but not creating a webpage) that includes the mark and forming an LLC that includes the mark (but not conducting any business operations using the LLC) would satisfy the requirement for the mark to be used in commerce and therefore be actual use.
False
The Lanham Act provides for contributory infringement where one party intentionally induces the infringement of another.
False
The existence of an unexpired patent related to the product supports a finding of non-functionality.
False
The intellectual property clause of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to write laws covering patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
False
The maximum duration for an enforceable trademark is 40 years.
False
To be deemed a "famous" mark, the mark must be federally registered.
False
To obtain trademark rights in a suggestive mark, the mark user must show secondary meaning.
False
When the PTO evaluates a new trademark application, it uses a narrower view of confusion compared to a court that is adjudicating a trademark infringement case.
False
Which of the following are not able to obtain legal rights as a mark or trademark?
Generic Words
Which of the following would not be considered cybersquatting?
Registering a domain name and spending a month planning and designing webpage content before making the site go live.
Which is not actually a source of trademark law?
The Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP)
Which of the following could not acquire trademark rights?
The shape of a traffic sign
Which of the following would be relevant in a confusion analysis?
The spelling of the marks, the font or design of the marks, and the amount of money spent by the trademark owner promoting the mark
Which of the following are not available remedies for counterfeiting?
These are all available remedies for counterfeiting: Incarceration of the counterfeiter, seizure of the counterfeit goods, and statutory damages of up to $2,000,000 per goods sold, and attorney fees
A mark that has reached incontestable status is presumed to be a "strong" mark.
True
A principal policy of Trademark Law is to protect consumers from confusion when such consumers seek to purchase a product from a particular company.
True
A single product, such as a new board game, is permitted to be the subject of a patent, a copyright, and a trademark.
True
A trademark owner that intends to abandon its mark can have the mark deemed to be abandoned within two weeks of discontinued use of the mark.
True
Actual use in commerce is a requirement for establishing rights in an unregistered mark.
True
Any attorney licensed to practice law in the U.S. can practice trademark law at the USPTO.
True
Assessing the "strength" of a mark includes considering both the distinctiveness of the mark itself as well as the market strength relating to the degree of consumer recognition.
True
Fraudulent procurement of a trademark can arise if the applicant makes a statement to the USPTO that the applicant knew was false.
True
Genericness is determined at the time the accused infringer entered the market using the accused infringing mark.
True
If no evidence of actual confusion is submitted, a court would likely determine that the "actual confusion" factor weighed in favor of the accused infringer rather than in favor of the trademark owner.
True
In a case involving unregistered trademarks, a junior user is permitted to enjoin a senior user from use of the trademark in the junior user's area of operation.
True
In a dilution analysis, fame is determined at the time when the defendant first adopted and began use of the mark, not when the plaintiff filed suit.
True
In making a cybersquatting claim under the ACPA, both an in personam action (suing the cybersquatter) and an in rem action (suing the domain name itself) are possible.
True
In the Chewy Vuitton case, the defendant was not guilty of trademark infringement because "Chewy Vuiton" was being used as a parody of Louis Vuitton.
True
In the context of a trademark dispute, a court can require one trademark owner to modify how they use the mark to include a disclaimer that the trademark owner is not associated with a different trademark owner.
True
It is more difficult to "use" a mark in commerce for purposes of establishing your own trademark rights than it is to "use" a mark in commerce to infringe another's trademark rights.
True
Marks registered on either the Principal or the Supplemental Register can use the ® symbol.
True
Marks registered on the Principal Register can attain a legal status of "incontestable."
True
Modern right of publicity claims are brought under state laws within a state that recognizes the right of publicity.
True
One difference between nominative fair use and descriptive fair use is that with nominative fair use, you refer to the mark owner's goods/services whereas with descriptive fair use, you refer to your own goods/services.
True
One way in which trademarks differ from patents is that the public may freely use the trademark (e.g., in conversations) to refer to the products or services to which the trademark applies.
True
Owners of unregistered trademarks can sue unauthorized users for false designation of origin.
True
The Supreme Court's Dastar decision differentiated between the producer of tangible items sold compared to the creator of the idea or concept embodied in the tangible item.
True
The issue of trademark functionality tends to be most prevalent in trade dress cases.
True
The shape of an automobile body could be determined to be non-functional for trademark purposes.
True
Under the TRIPS treaty, a likelihood of confusion is presumed whenever the mark and the goods are both identical.
True
Under the UDRP, mere registration of a domain name without actively using that domain for a website is sufficient to show bad faith use.
True
Unless they pertain to a specific exclusion (such as deceptiveness, use without permission, or a president's name while still alive), surnames that have been shown to have acquired secondary meaning are, in general, registerable on the Principal Register.
True
