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TTAB Wants to Know How Consumers View Celebrity Slogans

Law360

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent precedential decisions allowing New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge and pop singer Lizzo to claim certain slogans as their own trademarks may be an indication the board is taking consumer recognition more seriously, attorneys told Law360.

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For Blank Rome LLP partner David Perry, however, the biggest lesson in the Judge precedent is a "broader one about credibility and case preparedness." In its opinion, the TTAB expressed skepticism of Chisena's claim that he was not a baseball fan and independently came up with the slogans for a new sports product, saying that the "timing, and choice of marks and colors are indeed eyebrow-raising, and his protestations of good faith strain credulity."

"If you're going to put a gavel on a baseball diamond logo in right field, and file marks for phrases that much of the public commonly associates with one of the greatest right fielders of all time, you are going to have a lot of explaining away to do," Perry told Law360.

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"TTAB Wants to Know How Consumers View Celebrity Slogans," by Tiffany Wu was published in Law360 on April 17, 2023.