Beeline Legal

05/29/2026

In light of the viral lawsuit between Patagonia® and drag queen Pattie Gonia, it’s time to bring back this article about parody and trademarks. 👇

“A parody must convey two simultaneous – and contradictory – messages: that it is the original, but also that it is not the original and is instead a parody.” Cliff Notes, Inc. v. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, 886 F.2d 490, 494 (2nd Cir. 1989)

Q: Can I use a trademark for parody?[1] A: Yes, if the interests of free speech outweigh the rights of the trademark owner.[2] WTF: What’s that mean? OK: Maybe some examples will help. It was OK fo…

05/27/2026

New on the Bee Blog 🐝
Reverse Confusion

We usually think of trademark infringement as a little fish trading off the reputation of a big brand but, sometimes, trademark infringement is a big fish running rampant over a smaller trademark o…

05/26/2026

Impossible X has been using the IMPOSSIBLE HQ trademark for exercise and fitness information since 2011 and registered the mark in 2017. Impossible Foods, Inc. owns lots of trademark registrations for IMPOSSIBLE covering its plant-based foods. So far no problem. Then Impossible Foods started using IMPOSSIBLE to provide health and nutrition information. Now Impossible Foods has a $3.25 million judgment against it for infringing on Impossible X’s trademark rights.

05/11/2026

New post on the Bee Blog 🐝
Protect It or Lose It? 👇

Want to reduce the value of your trademark to $0? No problemo. Just let people start using your trademark as the generic word for the product you’re selling and you’ll be at $0 soon eno…

05/08/2026

Kellogg has a trademark registration for RICE KRISPIE TREATS for snack food bars and yet, here is sweetgreen selling a “Crispy Rice Treat.” Even with a registration, Kellogg will never have rights strong enough to easily stop uses like sweetgreen’s because the words in Kellogg’s registration are weak.

05/05/2026

THE BEAN. Unless they’re selling lima bean juice, their trademark sends the wrong signal to potential customers. For going misdescriptive while trying to be clever, I give this lame mark 2 Bees.

How many Bees will your favorite (or most detested) trademark earn?
Submit a trademark for review in the comments!

05/01/2026

Friday quiz for the series:
The first Gerber® baby logo was drawn by Dorothy Hope Smith and submitted as part of a contest. She won $300.
The date in the image tells you when it was registered. Can you guess when it was first used in the U.S.?

04/29/2026

This is tonight! You still have time to RSVP to save your spot. See you then. 💃🏻

Next week, I’m giving a virtual intellectual property presentation. It’s online, it’s free, don’t miss it! April 29th at 6:30pm.

Don’t forget to register to save your spot: boominu.com/bb9

04/27/2026

New post on the Bee Blog! 🐝
Call Your Mother®

Call Your Mother Corporation owns four trademark registrations for CALL YOUR MOTHER covering restaurant and deli services. The owners of CALL YOUR BUBBI1 bagel shop will soon be spending money on n…

04/22/2026

Next week, I’m giving a virtual intellectual property presentation. It’s online, it’s free, don’t miss it! April 29th at 6:30pm.

Don’t forget to register to save your spot: boominu.com/bb9