The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave a company known as JobDiva, Inc., an early holiday gift. In midDecember of 2016, the court rescued JobDiva by vacating a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which had cancelled certain of JobDiva’s federal service mark registrations on the basis that the mark was not being used on the services recited in the registrations. In re JobDiva, Inc., No. 20151960 (Fed. Cir., Dec. 12, 2016).
The JobDiva case provides an instructive analysis of how, in the 21st century business world, the boundary between trademarks used on goods (typically through their sale) and marks used in connection with the rendition of intangible services to others, can become difficult to delineate. However, as we are reminded by JobDiva, that line must be understood and respected when it comes to the federal registration of marks, because the failure to do so properly can lead to significant consequences.
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