Stephen L. Baker
President
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Admissions
Admitted to bar, 1969, New York and New Jersey U.S. Court of Appeals, Second, Third and Federal Circuits, U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and District of New Jersey
Education
Union College (B.A., 1965)
St. John's University (J.D., 1969)
Member
American Bar Association
INTA – International Trademark Association
Practice Areas
Trademark
Copyright
Unfair Competition Law
Litigation
Patents
Licensing
Intellectual Property
Computer Law
Mr. Baker has filed and successfully prosecuted thousands of trademark applications in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and in various trademark offices around the world. Typically, He is among the top filers of trademark applications in the United States.
Mr. Baker has also become adept at using the Internet to determine the registerability of trademarks in the U.S. and in various countries around the world. Expertise in conducting trademark searches is an art as well as a science and is the mark (if you will excuse the pun) of a trademark professional.
Mr. Baker has also successfully prosecuted and defended hundreds of oppositions and cancellations proceeding in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. In addition, he has also managed oppositions and cancellations proceeding in various trademark offices around the world.
Stephen has appeared in State Court, Federal District court actions in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Utah, Florida, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, among others, as well as in appellate courts.
He has also negotiated and drafted trademark, copyright and patent license agreements on behalf of multinational companies.
Finally, regardless of who is handling a case at Baker and Rannells, Mr. Baker works with the lead attorney and his/her team to realize the client's objectives.
Recent Cases
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Litigation (TTAB)
Goya Foods, Inc. v. First Grade Agency (Cancellation No. 92044726) - Successfully prosecuted petition to cancel a mark confusingly similar to a mark owned and used by Goya.
Goya Foods, Inc. v. Korea Yakult Co., Ltd. (Opposition No. 91167752) - Successfully prosecuted opposition to application to register KOYA, which is confusingly similar to the famous mark GOYA.
Nautica Apparel, Inc. v. Maarten 12 Metre Enterprises N.V. (Opposition No. 91167747) - Successfully prosecuted opposition to application to register of a sail design trademark confusingly similar to that of Nautica Apparel Inc.
Zabar's v. Zabas(Opposition No. 91163191) - Successfully prosecuted opposition to applications brought on behalf of world-famous gourmet food store Zabar's, to prevent registration of the confusingly similar trademark ZABA'S.
Diamond Tours v. AAA Mid Atlantic (Cancellation No. 92044423) - Successfully prosecuted petition to cancel registrations of confusingly similar DIAMOND marks in the name of AAA .
Diamond Tours v. MVI Marketing, Inc. (Cancellation No. 92045298) - Successfully prosecuted petition to cancel registrations of confusingly similar DIAMOND ESCAPE marks in the name of MVI Marketing.
Wet Willies Inc. v. The Pale LLC d/b/a Buskers (Opposition No. 91165639) - Successfully prosecuted opposition to application to register BUSKERS as a trademark for a bar and grill.
Mira Foods v. Nile Importing (D.C.N.J. 2003) - brought a federal trade dress infringement case against Nile Importing, a juice company, alleging infringement of Mira Foods' trade dress packaging design. The District Court issued a permanent injunction against Nira Importing and the case settled on favorable terms.
Harry Forman v. QVC (Cancellation No. 92043305) - prosecuted a cancellation proceeding against QVC to cancel their confusingly similar trademarks M MEDALLION. The case settled on favorable terms, and QVC limited its trademark registration to avoid conflict with our client's mark.
Abbey Specialty Foods LLC v. Minority Sales Corp. (Opposition No. 91186699) - Successfully prosecuted opposition to application to prevent registration of the confusingly similar trademark CELTIC.
Isle of Man Milk Marketing Association v. Abbey Specialty Foods, LLC . (Cancellation No. 91175504) - Successfully defended petition to cancel CELTIC GOLD as a trademark for a cheese.
Nautica Apparel, Inc. v. Frank Dilbakowski (Cancellation No. 92044423) Successfully prosecuted petition to cancel registration of confusingly similar NAUTIFISH mark.
Sara Lee Coffee and Tea Hellas Viomichania Kafe Kai Tsagiou Anonymos Etairia d/b/a Bravo A.E. (S.A) v. Beta II Marketing Corp - (Opposition No. 91185380) - Successfully defended opposition to application to register BRAVO.
Representative Federal Court Actions
Iberia Foods Corp. v. Rolando Romeo d/b/a Rol-Rom Foods (3rd Circuit Court of Appeals) 150 F.3d 298; 47 USPQ2d 1604 (1998). - Successfully reversed District Court's granting in a preliminary injunction by obtaining ruling that client's imported goods were "genuine" and that plaintiff's goodwill was not harmed.
Goya Foods, Inc. v. Tropicana Products, Inc. (2nd Circuit Court of Appeals) 846 F.2d 848; 6 USPQ2d (1988). - Successfully reversed District Court's dismissal of Trademark Infringement / Declaratory Judgment action. Established that pendency of a PTO proceeding is not a proper basis to forestall a lawsuit based upon a claim of trademark "infringement" or in seeking a declaration of non-infringement. Federal District Court
Goya Foods, Inc. v. Condal Distributors, Inc., 732 F. Supp. 453; 17 USPQ2d 1949 (SDNY 1990). - Successful prosecution of preliminary injunction motion converted to final judgment. Obtained finding of trade dress infringement based upon similarities in appearance of parties' respective rice packages and upon persuasive survey evidence.
In Design a/k/a Hukafit Sportswear, Inc. v. S. Rothschild & Co., 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29875; Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P25,890 (SDNY 1986). Successfully defeated motion for preliminary injunction and obtained ruling denying plaintiff's claim for injunctive relief and denying plaintiff's claims for damages.
Juicebox Wine Company, LLC v. Constellation Wines U.S., Inc. (D. Mass. 2007). Successfully argued motion a preliminary injunction. Thereafter the matter settled on confidential terms and a permanent injunction and final judgment on consent was ordered by the Court.
Urban Outfitters, Inc., Urban Outfitters Wholesale, Inc. and Free People, LLC v. BCBG Max Azria Group, Inc., Streetbeat Sportswear, Inc. and Max Rave (E.D. Pa. 2007). Defended Streetbeat Sportswear and its related companies against plaintiffs' claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition arising from Streetbeat's use of its incontestable trademark registration TRUE PEOPLE.
