Saw this on jalopnik. Apparently Subaru has trademarked "boxer" in reference to their horizontally opposed engine design.

http://jalopnik.com/5956094/subaru-trademarked-boxer

I checked out the Subaru page and yep they have a trademark symbol next to boxer.

 

Not sure how old that trademark is, and if its in the US or where.
But certainly boxer engines have been around and refereed to as such for over 50 years, so its not clear how defensible such a registration would be.
A registration isn't an exclusive right, its just a piece of evidence that can be used in court if there is a dispute. If the trademark was filed relatively recently, it would be rather easy for anyone to find prior art and widespread use of the term back through the past 50 years and invalidate the trademark, since its been used in the trade (automobiles) to refer to engine design. This smells like that supposed effort of IBM to trademark the color blue in a corporate logo.

 

You can nationally trademark a company name that's been used for decades - and you still own it. Federal supersedes state. Many people have made a lot of money going after trademark protection for long-standing names in order to "license" someone else's use of that name.

 

On a related note, Christian Louboutin (very high end women's shoe's with Red Soles) claimed Channel infringed on their "trademark" when the later produced shoes with red soles. Louboutin lost.

 

Actually they won on appeal...
But only in the context of high heels with their specific red.

They can trademark what ever they want. Defending it is another story.

 

Absolutely, you can trademark anything you want. Its just a fee to file a form. The validity is never checked when you file, it just puts a document on the books to be used as evidence.

I would like to hear about any case where someone filed a trademark on something that had already been in use or common public use for any time prior to the trademark. Prior art will invalidate a patent or trademark claim rather quick, no matter whats on file in a federal building. The courts are the actual determinants of who owns what rights. The filing paperwork only makes a claim, and settlements don't resolve any question, they only typically end a legal challenge.