347-787-6824The LAW FIRM of DAYREL SEWELL, PLLC is pleased to announce that Mr. Dayrel S. Sewell, Esq., MPH, and Ms. Ariel Friedman penned an article entitled, “The Increasing Intellectual Property Value of the .COM to Businesses” that is now published in the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review (STLR). Mr. Sewell is a proud alumnus of Columbia University and Ms. Friedman is currently a Columbia University Law School student interning at our law firm.
STLR deals with the exciting legal issues surrounding science and technology and is ranked #6 among all tech law journals. Furthermore, STLR is the first Columbia journal to become formally open access, eliminating unnecessary barriers to readership.
The publication represents the continuation of our firm’s commitment to providing value to a wide audience and to providing excellent service to our clients. As always, we encourage your thoughtful comments and insights on our publication. Thank you.
The new holding in favor of Bookings.com by the Supreme Court in USPTO v. Booking.com will open a floodgate of trademark applications for generic names appended with “.com”. I agree with the court that it is not per se a generic name if one attempts to trademark a combination of a generic word and a generic top-level domain, especially if the public perceives it as a recognizable class or brand. In order to prevent overuse or misuse of this precedent in the future, USPTO and the courts will necessarily have to set the bar high for “sensitivity to consumer perception… Read more »
It is still too early to tell the true impact of the Bookings.com case. Just because “.com” trademarks are allowed does not mean that they will be granted. Companies must still prove that their “.com” trademark takes on additional trademark meaning in the eyes of consumers. My main concern is how the USPTO and courts will evaluate the vast amount of “.com” applications that will undoubtedly fly in. My concern echoes Justice Breyer’s dissent where he believed that the majority assigned too much weight to the consumer survey evidence. Survey evidence is suspect because companies can easily apply different methods… Read more »