A conversation with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the 2018 Trademark Expo; Director's Forum: A Blog from USPTO's Leadership, August 6, 2018

Guest blog by Linda Hosler, Deputy Program Manager for USPTO partnerships;
A conversation with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the 2018 Trademark Expo

"On July 27 and 28, guests poured in to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to participate in the 2018 National Trademark Exposition. This free biennial event supports the USPTO’s mission of educating the public about the vital role intellectual property protections—in this case trademarks— play in our increasingly competitive global marketplace. More than twenty exhibitors, including government entities, non-profits, small businesses, and corporations from all over the country provided thought-provoking interactive displays and educational workshops.

Keynoting at this year’s expo was NBA All-Star, author, and entrepreneur, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I had the opportunity to sit down with Abdul-Jabbar to find out what made him the industry giant he is today—not surprisingly, it is much more than his 7 foot 2 inch stature."

2018 National Trademark Exposition, Washington, D.C.: Photos and Observations

Kip Currier, 2018 National Trademark Exposition, Washington, D.C.: Photos and Observations

I attended the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's 2018 National Trademark Exposition, a free 2-day event held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (home of famous artifacts like Abe Lincoln's Stovepipe Hat and Judy Garland's Ruby Slippers), July 27-28, 2018.

I was fortunate to be able to attain registration for the two free Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars. 

The first CLE seminar, Who Owns You When You Are Dead?, was a revealing look at the not-widely-known-or-well-understood Right of Publicity, which can be particularly critical for tax implications and estate planning. The presenters discussed interesting examples involving the estates of Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Prince--who, unfortunately, died without a will! Not a good idea!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, famed former NBA basketball player and best-selling author, spoke at the Opening Session, as well as USPTO leaders Andrei Iancu and Mary Boney Denison:

This session on Counterfeits and Cybercrime provided powerful examples of the impacts of counterfeit goods, such as defective airbags in cars and tainted medicines and drugs:

Brian Levine (speaking, in the above photo), Senior Counsel and National CHIP Coordinator with the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, mentioned that defective Apple iPhone chargers have caused fires and electrocutions:

The International Trademark Association (INTA) had a booth giving attendees a chance to try to discern the fake good from the genuine good produced by the brand owner.

 In this pic, the counterfeit Uggs boot is...the one on the left (got that one correct!):

This Under Armour counterfeit-spotting test was harder. The grey backpack on the right is the genuine article. The giveaway, per the Under Armour paralegal with whom I chatted, is the higher quality ergonomic straps on the real backpack. Counterfeit goods frequently use inferior manufacturing elements. It can be really hard to spot the differences though, especially when a fake one and a real counterpart aren't side by side.

Interesting chat with several summer interns for NASA. NASA's Booth gave out these cool Inventor's Notebooks--with a great Thomas Edison quote on the back--and information on Open Source NASA Software and Patent licensing and use:

Displays by, in alphabetical order, the DC Roller Girls, Safeway, and Velcro:

I took a USPTO Trademark Examiner and a Trademark Attorney up on their offer to talk about soundmarks (e.g. the NBC chimes, MGM lion, Homer Simpson's D'Oh, and the Harlem Globetrotters theme), as well as smellmarks, like the recently registered smellmark for Playdoh.

The Mouseketeers cap, Coca Cola bottle, and Mrs. Butterworth's Maple Syrup bottle are memorable kinds of shapemarks: 

A woman working the Girl Scouts display shared with me a humorous "teachable moment": a USPTO attorney at the Expo informed her that one of the Girl Scout exhibits (which another employee had created) mistakenly described Juliette Gordon Low's application filed for a 1913 patent when it was actually a trademark:

It's an example that highlights widespread confusion between the four types of Intellectual Property (Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets).


A lifelong aficionado of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), thanks to many early trips with my family, I also visited their booth. This is their primary logo, the arrowhead:

This is their new "secondary logo", I was told:

And this is an example of the kinds of collaborations between the NPS and corporate partners:

My time at the 2018 National Trademark Expo was very informative and worthwhile. Metro got me around part of the time and I walked the rest--despite scooters, bikes, and cars ubiquitously available for rental:

And I also got to visit two great D.C. area bookstores, Politics and Prose (who had a booth at the Trademark Expo) and KramerBooks:

 

2018 National Trademark Exposition, July 27-28, 2018, Washington, D.C.

2018 National Trademark Exposition

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, will host the 2018 National Trademark Exposition.  The exposition is a free, family-friendly event where you can learn about trademarks.  It will feature educational workshops, exhibits and hands-on activities demonstrating the important role trademarks play in our economy and our lives. Children's activities, including scavenger hunts, interactive games, and trademark design workshops, will be offered both days.  Free continuing legal education (CLE) seminars will be offered for legal professionals.

Exhibitors

• 1000 Cranes, LLC
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
• DC Rollergirls
• Edible IP, LLC (DBA Edible Arrangements)
• Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital
• Global Brand Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• Looshes Labs LLC
• Microsoft
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Cente​

• National Park Service (United States Department of the Interior) and National Park Foundation
• NumbersAlive!
• Politics and Prose
• Safeway
• Segway Inc.
• Tenneco Automotive
• The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Under Armour, Inc.
• Velcro Companies 
• YMCA