Brian Horne Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article on Snap Inc. Case Regarding ‘Spectacles’ Trademark

In the article “Snap Inc. Bid to Trademark ‘Spectacles’ Hinges on Smart Tech,” litigation partner Brian Horne offered insight into the key questions at play in Snap Inc.’s efforts to trademark their “smart glasses” product.

The article focuses on the social media company’s bid to trademark the word “spectacles”. At issue, the article states, is whether “spectacles” is a generic term for all smart glasses—which would prohibit its registration as a trademark. According to Horne, “Companies shouldn’t be able to trademark generic terms for their products because customers need to understand what a product is and where it came from.”

Further elaborating on the central issue of the case, Horne said, “The question that the court is looking at is, ‘What’s the genus?’ Are glasses a complete subset of smart glasses?’ The court found that there’s a question of fact there.”

Read the full article here [subscription may be required].