#nontraditional trademarks

[timberlakelaw]

If you were too cheap actually to register for the Alt Legal Connect Conference you can still enjoy my slides (minus the witty banter) by clicking here.

Thanks very much to everybody at Alt Legal for the opportunity and for all of your help!

[timberlakelaw]

On the Supplemental Register

Among marks added to the Supplemental Register at the U.S. (Patent &) Trademark Office last week are:

“a three-dimensional design of a beverage bottle formed by a ring with a hole in the center on top of a rectangular base. The ring area of the design contains various patterns that look as if they have been carved onto the design”

as capable of indicating the source of: 

Alcoholic beverages except beers

“a three-dimensional configuration of a portion of a beverage bottle and a lid. The bottle consists of a body and a shoulder having sloped sides defining an annular groove followed by an annular flange. The body of the container is elongated and cylinder-shaped. The lid consists of a thick, generally cylindrical body with an angled upper lip and a flip-top having a tongue that overlaps the angled upper lip of the cylindrical body. A crescent-shaped tab protrudes from the overlapping tongue. The cylindrical body consists of a channel disposed in the middle section of the top of the cylindrical body extending to one outer edge of the side of the cylindrical body. Two circular segments appear on either side of the channel, which are sloped towards the stem”

as capable of indicating the source of: 

Drinking bottles sold empty and vacuum flasks; bottles sold empty; insulated bottles sold empty; reusable stainless steel water bottles sold empty; reusable stainless steel bottles sold empty; vacuum bottles and vacuum flasks; and insulated vacuum bottles and vacuum flasks

“a package design, with a strip running in the center, from top to bottom. The center strip also has a square at the top portion”

as capable of indicating the source of: 

bumper guards for furniture that cover corners and edges

“a three-dimensional shape of a hexagonal pole spanner sign with rectangular long sides and beveled bottom corners at either end, and placed over a service station gasoline pump”

as capable of indicating the source of: 

Automobile service station services

[timberlakelaw]

Take the Cakes

Opinions differ regarding the value of registration on the Supplemental Register (the sample's biased, though: most voicing opinions are lawyers, and we don't agree about anything), but there is, perhaps, consensus that a Supplemental Registration is often better than nothing.  

Owners of marks, however, appear to consider such registrations worth pursuing since they continue to apply for them (frequently by amendment). 

One such entity is New York's famed Magnolia Bakery, owner of recent Supplemental Registrations for the following cake configurations:

The mark consists of three-dimensional product configuration of a round cake with frosting lying flat on the center of the cake's top and with frosting on the sides of the cake that has been swept diagonally upward and above the top of the cake creating wavy, diagonal frosting designs on the side of the cake and rounded, wave-like frosting designs along the edge of the cake's top, which create an overall scalloped-looking edge.

The mark consists of a three-dimensional product configuration of an icebox cake with its body consisting of alternating layers of cake wafers that are interwoven with cream frosting to form a lattice design and with a top layer comprising a frosting spiral made of grooved frosting swirls that ends with a raised edge in the cake's center.