Belinda J. Scrimenti

Even if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it might really be a motion mark.

Pattishall partner Belinda Scrimenti obtained a service mark registration for the famous “Duck March” held at The Peabody Hotels’ historic Memphis Hotel –in which Mallard ducks parade from the rooftop, down the elevator, across a red carpet and into each hotel lobby’s marble fountain daily. “While there are a handful of other motion marks on the trademark register, the Duck March truly is one of a kind,” she explains.

Scrimenti focuses on protecting her clients’ intellectual property rights throughout a brand’s life stages–from counseling and clearance, to registration and enforcement, with over 30 years of experience litigating trade identity disputes.

Her national litigation experience has encompassed cases in more than 40 federal court districts and divisions and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She has litigated over 100 cases in federal courts involving trademark, trade dress, product configuration, unfair competition, dilution, domain name, copyright, counterfeiting, generic products, false advertising, and product disparagement claims.

Her trial experience includes cases in the Eastern District of Virginia’s notorious “rocket docket” (where many domain name cases can be brought), a jurisdiction where cases go to trial within six to nine months. She has also litigated numerous ex parte motions for seizure and impoundment orders, and motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

Her litigation experience is diverse. For example, she prevailed in a published preliminary injunction decision that served as a hallmark for a national enforcement program for the “Power Rangers” property. She served as lead counsel in a suit brought by one of the largest national casual dining restaurant chains against a competitor over trademark infringement of plaintiff’s multi-million dollar signature dining promotion. Recently, she brought suit to stop a competitor of The Peabody Hotel from using a “Ducks in a Row” ad.

In addition to hotel and restaurant businesses, Scrimenti has represented clients in the fields of merchandised character and sports properties, toys and giftware, personal care products, cosmetics, apparel, luxury goods, computer and semiconductor technology, vehicle parts, and publishing, as well as real estate development, construction, security, trade association, and managed health care services.

Scrimenti has counseled on and registered many nontraditional trademarks, including color, building design, configuration, sound, motion, and lengthy narrative marks. With respect to color, she has assisted an internationally-known manufacturer of insulation products in expanding its protection of a single color mark from the United States through jurisdictions internationally – often in countries where protection of single colors is a novel and emerging legal concept. She is a frequent speaker on topics relating to color and other nontraditional marks.

She’s resolved Internet and domain name problems involving the removal of pornographic, political, and defamatory material from websites, through enforcement and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP) actions. She also supervised an international enforcement program to halt infringement of two internationally famous comic strip characters in over 50 countries.

Scrimenti’s extensive litigation experience helps clients at all stages of the branding process. “My job is to be the ‘worrier,'” Scrimenti says. “My motto is ‘plan for the best, but prepare for the worst.’ I always consider the potential ramifications of decisions made in the early stages of branding, to minimize the likelihood of disputes and litigation later; but at the same time, help clients be best prepared should litigation become necessary.”

Scrimenti came to Pattishall laterally, previously practicing in Washington, D.C. Of her Pattishall experience, she says, “While I already knew the firm by its premier reputation in our field, I now know first-hand how much more we offer clients. The firm has immense depth and breadth of talent and experience, led by nationally-recognized experts, that is second to none.”