As a trademark lawyer, I found the recent news that Jeremy Lin applied for the trademark “LINSANITY” following his recent rise to fame most interesting or “LINteresting.”
The news conjured up other recent trademark applications by famous people. The first that sprang to mind is Nadya Suleman’s applications for “OCTOMOM” in ICs 16, 25 and 41. Surprisingly Ms. Suleman overcame challenges by the Examining Attorney. Further, no one opposed her mark during the opposition period. A Notice of Allowance was issued. Nevertheless, Ms. Suleman failed to file the requisite specimens in time in order to complete her registration process. Could it be “OCTOMOM” diapers and clothing were not as commercially viable as once thought? If Ms. Suleman wants to give this another try, she is welcome to call me. She was very close to completing the process, but for whatever reason the mark was abandoned because a Statement of Use was not filed in within the time preiod prescribed and no extension was requested to file a Statement of Use at a later date.
In any event, Mr. Lin already faces some challenges to his application for the wordmark “LINSANITY.” Two individuals, Yenchin “Mathew” Chang and Andrew W. Slayton, both of California, filed applications for the plain wordmark “LINSANITY” in IC 25 before Mr. Lin. Mr. Lin should be able to easily overcome Mr. Chang’s application Serial No. 85535650, as Mr. Chang filed an intent-to-use application and he has not used the mark in commerce. Mr. Slayton filed an in-use application. Serial No. 85537764 claims a first use date of July 17, 2010 and a first date used in commerce as February 8, 2012. Mr. Lin should be able to overcome such challenges to his claim in the mark; but the prior applications certainly do not make it easy. It will be interesting to learn whether the prior applications were made in good faith. Moreover, the name is associated with a living person. It appears that both prior applications will likely meet challenges from the Examining Attorney, whomever that may be. It will certainly be interesting to see how Mr. Lin and his attorneys along with the other parties and their respective counsels hash out this matter.
We will keep you posted.