Robert Hugh Johnston III
Trademarks & Patents - Johnston IP Law, PLLC
Robert "Bob" Johnston is a founding partner, Managing Member of Johnston IP, and has been selected as a D Magazine Best Lawyer for multiple years.
He is is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and companies create value through trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property. He prepares and prosecutes trademark applications and patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark office (USPTO). With decades of experience, he has helped clients of all types with the full spectrum of intellectual property.
He has worked as an attorney with large, multinational law firms, served as chief intellectual property counsel for a technology startup that eventually realized a market capitalization over a billion dollars, and founded Johnston IP Law. He helps clients all over the United States and works in a wide range of industries including medical devices, oil and gas, software, hospitality, retail, aircraft, energy, and more. Bob has degrees in engineering, law, and business.
He has served as the chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section.
- Southern Methodist University
- MBA
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- SMU Dedman School of Law
- Doctor of Jurisprudence/Juris Doctor (J.D.)
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- Baylor University
- BSE - Engineering (1989)
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- Johnston IP Law, PLLC
- - Current
- Member
- Hubbard Johnston, PLLC
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- Partner
- Patton Boggs
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- Five IP Traps for the Non-IP Attorney
- Dallas Bar Journal Headnotes
- IP Implications of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Trademark Modernization Act and CASE Act, Dallas Bar Association IP Section CLE Talk, May 2021, Dallas Bar Association's IP Section CLE, Dallas, Arts District Mansion
- Dallas Bar Association
- Review of the Trademark Modernization Act and its implications for trademark lawyers
- Registered to Practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States Patent And Trademark Office
- Best Lawyers - Intellectual Property - Trademarks
- D Magazine
- Selected by peers as one of the best lawyers for trademarks
- Best Lawyers - Intellectual Property - Trademarks
- D Magazine
- Selected by peers as one of the best lawyers for trademarks
- Texas State Bar # 00784352
- Member
- - Current
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- Reg. United States Patent & Trademark Office
- ID Number: 37364
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- Texas
- State Bar of Texas
- ID Number: 00784352
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- Free Consultation
- Trademarks
- Trademark Registration
- Patents
- Patent Prosecution
- English
- Q. Am I able to apply for a name that is already trademarked, but has been dead and abandoned for 17 years?
- A: If I understand the question correctly, you mean by “trademarked” that it was once federally registered but now has been abandoned or cancelled. In most situations you could file for a trademark registration for that mark and use that mark. One caution is that it's possible the owner of the trademark allowed the federal registration to go abandoned but still is using the mark and has common law rights in it where they're using it. In my experience this is unlikely, but it is possible. To provide counsel, all the facts would need to be investigated and considered.
- Q. Is this a trademark issue?
- A: I can provide some educational material related to trademarks. If someone has a federal registration on the principal register before another person begins using a mark, the federal trademark owner will be able to enforce it provided that there is a likelihood of confusion. If a person on the West Coast only has a common law trademark, their enforcement would be limited to areas in which they have established rights which may or may not extend to where another user is located. It is possible for there to be a common law trademark used in one part of the country and another person using the same mark in another part of the country, and both of them may have common law rights. That is all that ... Read More
Short Introduction of Bob Johnston, Founder