Bloomberg Law
Sept. 18, 2017, 4:44 PM

IP Law Firm’s Name Has it Seeking Protection from Larger Fish

Anandashankar Mazumdar

By Anandashankar Mazumdar, Bloomberg BNA

A small California law firm asked a federal district court on Friday to declare that its use of the name “Fish IP Law” doesn’t infringe the trademark rights of Boston-based Fish & Richardson PC.

In August, Fish & Richardson sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fish IP Law demanding that the California law firm make its name and logos “distinctly different” than Fish & Richardson’s, which uses marks that emphasis the “Fish” part of its name, according to the complaint. Fish & Richardson, which has a large patent practice, has more than 350 lawyers in 12 offices across the U.S.

Fish IP Law said in its complaint that Fish & Richardson “owns no right to the word ‘Fish’ alone or when placed alongside a description of the services provided by Fish IP Law or any other entity for that matter.”

Fish & Richardson didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg BNA request for comment.