journal
Well, something happened.
Evidently I was waiting out some kind of development to prompt me to blog… about anything.
Withdrawal (by Deb Stoller) of cancellation proceeding against STITCH & BITCH CAFE trademark (except I can’t get the second page of the filing to show up right now — I can only see the cover page).
Settlement? Moving on to the next great catchphrase? Anybody?
ETA: press release should be forthcoming.
10 Responses to “Well, something happened.”
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1Divine Bird Jenny said on May 23rd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
So…does that mean that there’s no case anymore? And I wonder why they’d withdraw. :(
At this point, though, does anyone even USE SFSE?
Good to see you’re still around, though!
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2Carol said on May 23rd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Sorry, it took me a few minutes to get over the shock of realizing you’re still alive.
Ran out of money to pay expensive intellectual property lawyers?
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3clare said on May 24th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Deb withdrew from the cancellation proceeding - not SFSE.
I wonder what will happen next.
Best of luck to you!
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4j. said on May 25th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Yes! alive.
Deb Stoller had a contract for what, seven titles after the first Stitch ‘n Bitch book was a success? With this one, including the calendars, she’s got that number…
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5Amie said on May 26th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I just got my email moments ago. I’m still curious as to what happens next myself. Does this mean Gregie Poo won’t be sending nastgrams anymore? Or stop making tee-shirts with our names on it saying we love SNB Cafe? I’m curious.
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6Colleen said on May 28th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92045274&pty=CAN&eno=25
Apparently it was reposted today - and it’s a withdrawal of the petition for cancellation - with prejudice.
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7Mary Lynn said on May 29th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Very interesting. Patent and trademark law is very, ummmm, picky in many respects and has very strict time and guidelines.
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8Eileen said on June 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
PAtent and trademarks are good when things are clear, but can be, as mary said a bit picky most of the times..allt he best Eileen
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9Laure said on August 15th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Can you explain this for the layperson?
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10j. said on August 15th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Translation (and summary for everybody who forgot what happened):
SFSE had a US trademark registration for STITCH & BITCH CAFE. They used it for their online “forum”, which at the time was really a guestbook script.
Deb Stoller published the first Stitch ‘n Bitch book. Possibly the second one too, can’t recall the exact timing. She filed four US trademark applications for STITCH ‘N BITCH for use with various types of goods and services, ranging from bags to television shows.
The trademark applications were rejected because of SFSE’s trademark — likelihood of confusion. When you get a rejection, you try to argue over it. If you can’t, you can try to remove the obstacle — in this case, that would be getting SFSE’s mark cancelled.
So, Deb filed a cancellation petition against SFSE’s mark. This procedure is not a lawsuit, and there are no allegations of infringement; in this type of situation, it’s up to the petitioner to prove the mark should be cancelled. (The registrant, of course, does their best to refute the petitioner’s arguments.)
This cancellation in particular lingered on and on and on and on. The parties kept extending the deadlines for getting things done (on consent), on the grounds that they were in settlement negotiations. It seems that they were indeed, because finally there was an announcement that the parties reached a settlement, and the cancellation petition was withdrawn (hence this post). Thus, the cancellation proceding was terminated; if you were to roughly analogize this to a lawsuit, it would be like the plaintiff telling the court that they were dropping their complaint because the parties had settled.
There was supposed to be a press release. I haven’t seen it.
