Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Holding that a trial judge must ensure that all admitted expert testimony "is not only relevant, but reliable"

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc.

Holding that fanciful, arbitrary, and suggestive marks are inherently distinctive

Inwood Laboratories v. Ives Laboratories

Holding that secondary liability for trademark infringement arises when a manufacturer or distributor intentionally induces another to infringe

Traffix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc.

Holding that the dual-spring design was not protectable because it had a purpose “beyond serving the purpose of informing consumers that the sign stands are made by” the plaintiff

Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co.

Holding companies may not "inhibit[] legitimate competition" by trademarking desirable features to "put competitors at a significant non-reputation-related disadvantage"

Lavespere v. Niagara Mach. Tool Works, Inc.

Holding that trial court is free to reconsider and reverse its decision on an interlocutory order "for any reason it deems sufficient, even in the absence of new evidence or an intervening change in or clarification of the substantive law"

Cook ex Rel. Tessier v. Sheriff Monroe Cnty

Holding that a sheriff's decisions regarding the training and supervision of their officers are discretionary functions

Metavante Corporation V. Emigrant Savings Bank

Holding that expert testimony was reliable and properly disclosed when his "supplemental expert report, combined with his original expert report, gave [the opposing party] sufficient information . . . ."

Amazing Spaces, Inc. v. Metro Mini Storage

Holding that a five-point star set within a circle was not inherently distinctive because it does not automatically indicate its association with the plaintiff self-storage business.

In re Salem

Holding that a bankruptcy court's order dismissing a case was a final action that triggered the right to appeal

Rule 702 - Testimony by Expert Witnesses

Adopting the Daubert standard

Rule 401 - Test for Relevant Evidence

Providing that evidence is relevant if " it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action"

Rule 701 - Opinion Testimony by Lay Witnesses

Requiring lay opinion testimony to be "rationally based on the witness's perception"

Section 1051 - Application for registration; verification

Requiring a filing of a Statement of Use to register a mark

Section 1052 - Trademarks registrable on principal register; concurrent registration

Granting authority to refuse registration to a trademark that so resembles a registered mark "as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods of the applicant, to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive"

Section 2.116 - Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Making the federal rules of civil procedure generally applicable in TTAB proceedings

Section 2.52 - Types of drawings and format for drawings

Providing rules for applicants “who seek to register words, letters, numbers, or any combination thereof without claim to any particular font style, size, or color”

Section 2.122 - Matters in evidence

Providing that in inter partes proceeding, "[t]he allegation in an application for registration, or in a registration, of a date of use is not evidence on behalf of the applicant or registrant" but, rather, "a date of use of a mark must be established by competent evidence"

Section 2.123 - Trial testimony in inter partes cases