One more installment of the #YourTrademarkSucks series to round out 2025: The website for DESCENDANT OF THIEVES features a backstory of a secretive designer who uses the name Dres Ladro. “Ladro” is Italian for “thief.” A unique trademark for a unique vibe earns this trademark 5 Bees.

New post on the Bee Blog! Thirty Years and Counting #trademarkregistration #bacardi #havanaclub #newblogpost beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/t...

A recent Yahoo News story wants us all to know that Mark Cuban is a “genius” because “he purchased the trademark for the phrase ‘City of Champions’ for just $38,000” and “that investment continues to pay off, proving Cuban's knack for spotting opportunities.”

Next up in the #HowOldAmI series: Pillsbury’s® brand flour has been around for an unbelievably long time. There is no date in this image that tells you when it was registered, but can you guess when it was first used in the U.S.? Hint: the date is *before* 1900 #trademarks #pillsbury

New post is up on the Bee Blog 🐝 How Much is Too Much for Copyright? #copyright #newblogpost #copyrightinfringement beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/h...

USA Football, LLC uses USA FOOTBALL and TEAM USA FOOTBALL for organizing football games & exhibitions. USA Flag, LLC is trying to register USA FLAG for the same services. USA Football is pissed. Who will win? I don’t care. USA? TEAM? FOOTBALL? FLAG? Meh. Who cares.

Last one for now in the Scottish edition of #YourTrademarkSucks: I’m sure everyone in Scotland has seen a million punny names for chip shops, but I hadn’t seen any, so I give CHIP INN 4 Bees. 🐝🐝🐝🐝

Continuing the Scottish edition of #YourTrademarkSucks: The Made in Stirling shop sells macramé made by a local artisan under the trademark A MOMENT ENTWINE. Because I’m a sucker for Scottish puns, I give this trademark 4 Bees. 🐝🐝🐝🐝

New post on the Bee Blog! 🐝 Vroom! Vroom! 🏎️💨 #trademarks #mustang #bmw beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/v...

Since Beeline’s launch 10 years ago, the Bee Blog has been explaining not just the basics of trademark & copyright law but also entertaining its readers with tales of the funny & bizarre world of trademarks in the wild. Informing the business community for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Beeline knows how to respond when the Trademark Office refuses to register a trademark. Convincing arguments, supported by evidence and legal references help a refused trademark application get to registration. Happily arguing with Trademark Office examiners for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Beeline uses all the tools to help move a client’s application along, whether that means opposing someone else’s trademark application or cancelling an existing trademark registration. Using all the available tactics for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Beeline files trademark applications for non-profits pro bono. Honored to support the non-profit community. Happy 10th anniversary, Beeline!

Beeline keeps on top of the evolving pull between AI and copyright owners. Whether it’s a quick update on social media or a deeper dive in the Bee Blog, Beeline helps you minimize the risk of AI to your business. Happily keeping up with changes in the law for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Since its launch 10 years ago, Beeline has given more than 60 workshops to over 1,500 entrepreneurs. Few things are as much fun as explaining intellectual property to business owners. Happily educating the business community for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Beeline’s #YourTrademarkSucks series has ranked the wonderful, the awful and the mediocre. From POOP LIKE A CHAMPION®, to GROUPON® and BOB’S BIG BOY®, no one escapes Beeline’s ratings. Dissing trademarks for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

Since its launch 10 years ago, Beeline has filed hundreds of trademark applications. I worked on each one personally. At Beeline, every client gets the benefit of my decades of trademark law experience. Protecting the intellectual property of its clients for 10 years. Happy anniversary, Beeline!

This week, we have the Scottish Edition of #YourTrademarkSucks: I encountered THISTLE DO NICELY on a recent trip to Scotland. For working THISTLE, the symbol of Scotland, into a punny name for this shop that sells Scottish-made items, I give this trademark 4 Bees.

I recently attended a U.S. Trademark Office webinar that included a discussion of the many trademark scams out there. Please be aware of the different types of trademark scams and don’t send scammers money. #trademarks

Next up in the #HowOldAmI series: The founder of Skippy® brand peanut butter stole the name from Percy Crosby, creator of “Skippy” comics. Crosby won a trademark infringement suit but later lost his rights to the brand after he was committed to an asylum.

In England, JCB is used as a generic name for a backhoe. The term came from J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited, the company that first marketed backhoes in England. Although JCB appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as a term for a backhoe, J.C. Bamford has managed to maintain its trademark rights.

Wondering how they registered HUMMUS & PITA for a place that sells hummus and pita? They sorta didn’t. Their trademark registration gives them no exclusive right to the words THE HUMMUS & PITA CO. I give this non-trademark grouping of words 1 bee. #YourTrademarkSucks

New post on the Bee Blog! 🐝 PB&J: Smucker v. Trader Joe’s I think TJ’s needs to redesign its product and packaging. What do you think? #trademarks #traderjoes #smuckers #newblogpost beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/p...

Greetings from the hive! 🐝 Why should you care about your business’s intellectual property? 👇 #trademarks #iplaw #businesstips mailchi.mp/e6f95a338ffb...

New post up on the Bee Blog 🐝 Pat LaFrieda Shouldn’t Be Doing This #trademarks #patlafrieda #meatpurveyors #newblogpost beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/p...

Protecting intangible assets can be a full-time job. Buc-ee’s Ltd. owns this adorable beaver logo and everyone and his brother is trying to cash in by selling infringing swag. #trademarks

Vetements Group is trying to get a US trademark registration for VETEMENTS for clothing. It has been rejected repeatedly because you can’t register the generic word for goods & “vetements” is French for “clothing.” Vetements Group has now appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. #trademarks

Next in the #HowOldAmI series: Does Sweetarts® qualify as a portmanteau, even though there’s only one overlapping letter? The date in the image tells you when it was registered. Can you guess when it was first used in the U.S.? #trademarks

I’m torn about ZAPATAT for tattoo removal services. It’s very clever & memorable but descriptive which may limit the customers who seek out the owner’s other skin care products & services. For nailing the “stickiness” but maybe limiting the audience, I give this trademark 3 Bees. #YourTrademarkSucks

$1.9 billion settlement in AI case: AI company Anthropic was sued for copyright infringement because it used pirated copies of authors’ works to train its AI tool, Claude. The judge in the case ruled that Anthropic’s use of the pirated books is not justified by fair use.

Immortality 🐝 #NewBlogPost #trademarks beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/i...

Owners of this mall kiosk are counting on you thinking “Disney” when you see their sign. All the letters in the iconic WALT DISNEY signature and in WIGGLEBUTTS (WLETS) are identical. The dot over the letter I screams dilution. I’m sure they’ll be getting a cease and desist letter soon. #trademarks

New post is up on the Bee Blog! 🐝 Use “As a Trademark” #trademarks #newblogpost beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/09/08/u...

The vintage and upcycled clothing market tends to attract some less than amusing trademarks. I kinda like WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND for saying retro without making me gag. I give this trademark 3 Bees. #YourTrademarkSucks

Adidas is satisfied with going after anyone using three stripes, now it’s pissed because Steve Madden’s making shoes with two stripes. If Adidas wants others to give its logo a wide berth, it should have picked something more distinctive than 3 stripes. #trademarks

Next up in the #HowOldAmI series: #Cosmopolitan® In its early days, Cosmopolitan® magazine published fiction by H.G. Wells, Edith Wharton, and Willa Cather, to name a few. The date in the image tells you when it was registered. Can you guess when it was first used in the U.S.? #trademarks

New post on the Bee Blog 🐝👇 Umbros, Trademark Bully #trademarks #logodesign beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/u...

I wonder if the NYT received letters from Google, Adobe, Uber, and Zoom for categorizing their valuable trademarks as verbs in the NYT’s Spelling Bee game. Use of a trademark as a verb can be evidence that the trademark has become “generic” leading to the owner’s loss of rights in the trademark.

The Washington Post reports that "The Republican Party of Florida was pushing a new line of merchandise Friday: baseball caps, T-shirts, mugs and insulating drink sleeves with THE DEPORT DEPOT in blocky stencil font diagonally across a bright orange square.”

Who owns what your contractors create? Read more at the link below 👇 mailchi.mp/c4b81a437fb6...

New post on the Bee Blog 🐝 lululemon v. Costco #trademarks #designpatent beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/l...

The trademark on this truck is supposed to evoke FedEx: BREADEX/FEDEX sound alike and instead of the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo, there’s a shaft of wheat. My gut tells me this is technically infringing but I wonder whether FedEx will do anything about it. #trademarks #spotted

New post on the Bee Blog 🐝 Bottomless Pit of Plagiarism #disney #midjourney #ai #trademarks beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/b...

I was prepared to give WHO GIVES A CRAP for toilet paper a 5-Bee rating but then I saw they sell other paper products. The mark loses its charm for “scented facial tissue.” Because it was great when it started, I give this mark 4 Bees. #YourTrademarkSucks

Another one in the #HowOldAmI trademark series: Started as a service to drive miners to and from work at 15 cents a ride, Greyhound® now reaches more than 1,700 destinations. The date in the image tells you when it was registered. Can you guess when it was first used in the U.S.? #trademarks

New post on the Bee Blog 🐝 We're taking a look at another copyright infringement lawsuit: Authors v. Meta and LLaMa beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/w...

This promoted post on LinkedIn is an epic infringement on the trademark rights owned by Penguin Books Limited. I suspect a cease and desist letter is imminent. #trademarks

New post is up on the Bee Blog 🐝 This one is about a recent ruling about the use of copyrighted works to train AI. Authors v. Anthropic and Claude 👇 #trademarks #AI #copyright beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/a...

THE SHADE STORE convinced the Trademark Office it was entitled to registration despite being generic words for “retail store services featuring window blinds”. Get all the registrations you want, you get 1 Bee for a weak trademark that will never get stronger. #YourTrademarkSucks

I once successfully argued that CATOLOGY for cat boarding is ok even though there was already a registration for DOGLOGIE for dog boarding. Sony, the owner of NAUGHTY DOG for video games, is opposing an application to register NAUGHTY CAT for video games.