Recent Developments in Trademark Law 2023

A pre-recorded streaming VIDEO replay of the October 2023 webcast, Recent Developments in Trademark Law 2023.

Trademark law evolves rapidly. This program provides an update on the most important developments in trademark law occurring over the past year. This year’s program examines the effects of recent Supreme Court decisions, recent case law developments in the USPTO’s classification of trademarks, and how to avoid some trademark application pitfalls.

For trademark-law novices, within each development, the program provides background concerning that area of trademark law. For experienced trademark law practitioners, each development will examine the important details of the development and best practices and practice pointers for handling it.

Join us for this essential annual program taught by John Farmer, an intellectual property attorney with over 30 years of experience in trademark law. Mr. Farmer has taught a yearly update on recent developments in trademark law for Virginia CLE for over 15 years.

• Recent USPTO administrative developments that affect your practice.
• Supreme Court
  • Redrawing liability lines for trademark infringement, protected parodies, artistic expression, and free-speech protection
  • The extent to which U.S. trademark law govern action outside the U.S.
• Shifting USPTO sands, recent case law development in:
  • What does NOT constitute a trademark
  • What is merely a descriptive or generic term
  • Using third-party trademark registrations to bolster your case
• Application Pitfalls
  • Claiming broad goods/services without due diligence can bite you
  • New consequences of changing your tune on when you first used your trademark
• When your older similar trademark registrations sometimes can help you secure newer ones
• Quick hits on other important developments

Faculty

John B. Farmer, Leading-Edge Law Group, PLC / Richmond

About the Speaker

John B. Farmer, Leading-Edge Law Group, PLC / Richmond

John B. Farmer is a member of the Leading-Edge Law Group, PLC, an intellectual property (“IP”) boutique law firm in Richmond, Virginia.  He served as chairman of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  He writes a monthly IP and technology law column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.  Mr. Farmer is listed in the top rank of Virginia IP attorneys by Chambers USA and listed for IP in Best Lawyers in America.  He is a past chair of the IP Section of the Virginia State Bar.  He is a past president of the Greater Richmond Intellectual Property Law Association.  He graduated from the University of Virginia and its law school.  After graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Donald S. Russell, Judge of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.