Author | Lightnews

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 1d

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

1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 3d

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...

PB&J: Smucker v. Trader Joe’s

“Smucker’s Uncrustables® sandwiches are the #1 frozen handheld brand in its category in the United States.” 1 Who knew? Trader Joe’s knew. TJ’s created their own version of …

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 7d

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

mailchi.mp/e6f95a338ffb...

Trademark, Copyright & Selling Your Business - ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

mailchi.mp

1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 10d

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...

Pat LaFrieda Shouldn’t Be Doing This

This is my internal dialog as I walk past this truck: ME: “Why did they put the ® symbol after the words ‘meat purveyors’?” ME TOO: “Surely they can’t have a reg…

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 16d

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 22d

My guess: SCOTUS will let stand the appeals court’s rejection.

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 22d

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

1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 24d

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · 28d

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 22

Anthropic has agreed to settle and will be paying about $3k for each pirated book it used. This settlement is likely the first step toward building an AI business model built on something other than theft.

beelinelegal.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/a...

Authors v. Anthropic and Claude

One judge has now ruled that use of copyrighted works to train AI may not be copyright infringement. Here’s how it went down. “Anthropic seems to believe that because some of the works …

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 22

$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.

1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 22

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

Immortality

Your trademark registration in the U.S. can live forever as long as: You’re still using the trademark; and You file renewals with the U.S. Trademark Office. I wrote about what it means to sti…

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 11

I guess infringing on Disney’s registered trademark font is the thing to do these days.
#trademarks

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 10

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

1 1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 8

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

Use “As a Trademark”

How to tell the difference between using a word as just a word and using a word “as a trademark.”

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 4

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Sep 2

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 27

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

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 25

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

Umbros, Trademark Bully

If you pick a boring geometric design for your logo, you’re signing up to be a bully. I’ve written before about how Adidas will go after anyone who uses three stripes, even if those thr…

beelinelegal.wordpress.com

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 22

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.

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 18

I guess it’s not enough to be cruel and violate the Constitution. It’s also required that you think doing so is funny.

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 18

Home Depot® heard about the infringement of its famous trademark from Anna V. Eskamani, a Democratic state legislator. The merchandise is no longer for sale and social media posts about it have been removed.

1 1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 18

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.”

1

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 14

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

Who owns what your contractor's create? - ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

mailchi.mp

Michele Berdinis @beelinelegal.bsky.social · Aug 11

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

lululemon v. Costco

lululemon® is suing Costco for selling “dupes” of lululemon’s products. The lawsuit is fascinating because, unlike most fashion-industry lawsuits, lululemon’s case isn&#8217…

beelinelegal.wordpress.com