Kevin Wallace

The INFORM Act Passes; Combating Counterfeiting with Transparency in Online Sales

By Heather McDonald, Robb Beckerlegge, Kevin Wallace, Megan Corrigan and Sydney Park on January 18, 2023 Posted in FTC

The recent passage of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM Act) bears significant implications for brand owners and online marketplaces. For brand owners, the disclosure of collected information could yield valuable intelligence about possible counterfeiters. Such information can be used to help brand owners enforce their rights by … Continue Reading

Decentralized Domains: Metaverse Land Grab

By Lisa Bollinger Gehman, Kevin Wallace and Deborah A. Wilcox on June 1, 2022 Posted in Trademark

As the metaverse continues to become a more established marketplace, and consumers become more familiar with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), NFT marketplaces, decentralized domains, bitcoin, crypto wallets and the blockchain, it is no surprise that intellectual property (IP) owners are starting to see an increase in unauthorized uses of their trademarks and copyrights. There is a … Continue Reading

Circuit Courts Continue To Limit Preclusive Effect of TTAB Decisions

By Kevin Wallace and Nancy R. Frandsen on September 22, 2021 Posted in Music Industry, Patent, Patents, Trademark, USPTO

On Sept. 17, 2021, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals became the latest Circuit Court to limit the preclusive effect of Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decisions. In 2015, the Supreme Court, in B&B Hardware,[1] decided in a 7-2 vote that issues decided in TTAB proceedings may have preclusive effect if the elements of … Continue Reading

USPTO Implementing Trademark Modernization Act

By Kevin Wallace and Deborah A. Wilcox on May 27, 2021 Posted in Trademark

Earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rule-making[1] to implement provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA), which Congress passed in December 2020.[2] The public has until July 19, 2021, to comment on the proposed rule-making before implementation. The proposed rules create new nonuse cancellation procedures, … Continue Reading

President Trump’s Continued Focus on Counterfeit Goods

By Megan Corrigan, Heather McDonald, Robb Beckerlegge and Kevin Wallace on November 9, 2020 Posted in Counterfeit

On Oct. 13, President Donald Trump signed a “Memorandum on Stopping Counterfeit Trafficking on E-Commerce Platforms Through Fines and Civil Penalties.”[1] This memorandum builds on his prior Jan. 31 executive order, discussed in the first article of this series, on the increased focus in 2020 on combating the sale of counterfeit goods. The president’s latest … Continue Reading

The Legislative Branch’s Answer to Stopping Counterfeit Goods: The SHOP SAFE Act

By Megan Corrigan, Heather McDonald, Robb Beckerlegge and Kevin Wallace on November 2, 2020 Posted in Counterfeit

This post is the second in our ongoing series on the heightened focus in 2020 on combating the sale of counterfeit goods. Our first article focused on the actions of the executive branch, while this article discusses the actions of the legislative branch in the fight against the sale of counterfeit goods. In early March, … Continue Reading

Wielding Trademark Rights to Fight COVID-19 Scams

By Kevin Wallace on October 30, 2020 Posted in Trademark

Trademark owners are wielding their intellectual property rights to stop COVID-19 scams and prevent the spread of misinformation about the ongoing pandemic. With the injunctive power of the Lanham Act, medical supply companies, software companies and even educational institutions are able to quash scams and misinformation. Earlier this year, 3M launched what has grown into … Continue Reading

A Finding of Willfulness Is Not Required for an Award of Profits in a Trademark Infringement Case

By Nancy R. Frandsen, Kevin Wallace and Megan Corrigan on April 24, 2020 Posted in Trademark

The Supreme Court has definitively answered the question of whether a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is required to show, as a precondition to a profits award, that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff’s trademark. By a unanimous vote, the Supreme Court said NO. In Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., Romag, a … Continue Reading

3M Joins the Fight Against Rampant Price Gouging

By Kevin Wallace and Brady Cummins on April 21, 2020 Posted in Price Gouging

Private enterprise has joined state and local governments in the fight against rampant price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, state and local governments across the country have declared states of emergencies, triggering laws prohibiting price gouging. Consumers are not the only targets of price gouging; state and local government procurement … Continue Reading

US Government Cracks Down on Counterfeits in 2020

By Megan Corrigan, Heather McDonald, Robb Beckerlegge and Kevin Wallace on March 18, 2020 Posted in Counterfeit

Combating counterfeit goods has become a serious focus of the U.S. government in 2020. This article is the first in an ongoing series about the actions being taken in this fight and the implications for e-commerce platforms and companies seeking to protect their brands from the threat of counterfeit goods. The U.S. Department of Homeland … Continue Reading