Starting a new business is an exciting venture, and for many entrepreneurs, a catchy brand name for their company or products is the first step toward success. In recent years, companies—especially breweries, wineries, and toy manufacturers—have adopted parody trademarks to garner attention for their products. A clever and humorous parody mark can be an amusing way to stand out, but it also carries significant risks. A “parody trademark” is a mark that uses an existing brand in a satirical or humorous manner. These marks take recognizable elements from the original and change them with a humorous twist to create a new commercial impression. However, a parody must be perceived by consumers as a critique or joke, rather than as an indication of an affiliation between the businesses. If the parody mark uses a well-known brand’s recognition to sell its own products, it may be deemed infringing by the owner of the pre-existing brand, even when such use is consi

Many wineries understand the importance of protecting their brand names through trademark registration and enforcement in the market, but producers should not overlook protection that may be available under U.S. trademark law for distinctive elements of product packaging and design. Considering trade dress within your overall intellectual property enforcement strategy will allow you to protect the unique aspects of presentation that make your product stand out on crowded market shelves. Trade dress is a type of trademark encompassing elements of product packaging and design which, taken together or separately, indicate to consumers that a product or service originates from a particular source, and which distinguish goods of one producer from those of its competitors. It is the look and feel of a product or service in the marketplace, and may consist of elements like size, shape, color, imagery, and decorative aspects of packaging. Trade dress must either be inherently distinctive or ha