Over the past few months I have written a series of pieces under the heading “Brand as Navigator” on the general topic of how trademarks functions as navigational aids (domain names, paid search, meta-tags, keywords). Identical or similar trademarks are able to co-exist in the real world with (acceptable levels of) confusion only because of
March 2003
Halo v. Blue Halo
Halo Management describes itself as a “Strategic Intellectual Asset Management” company, run by a patent lawyer. Its services are described here. It owns a federal registration for HALO for, among other services, web hosting services. Interland is a hosting company that offers BLUE HALO ARCHITECTURE hosting services. Here is a copy of Halo Management’s trademark…
Warning: This Post Contains Links to Adult Content and Possible Trademark Dilution
First there were the unauthorized PUMA ads (background here, here and at this point, everywhere). Now we have ads disavowed by NOKIA and by VICTORIA’S SECRET. Bear in mind that there are differences in degree to ad parodies. There are ad parodies clearly presented as parodies (WACKY PACKS, for example). There are…
All This Talk of Concurrent Use Is Making Me Hungry
Terrance Brennan is a noted Manhattan restaurateur who recently opened TERRANCE BRENNAN’S SEAFOOD AND CHOPHOUSE. The NY Times (registration required) reports that he prevailed yesterday in a lawsuit brought by the Brennan’s Inc, described as “the company that runs the 53-yr old restuarant in New Orleans.” Showing how much he learned during this experience, Terrence…
If You Are Vin Diesel, Yell Really Loud
This should take your mind off things for at least 30 seconds.
Domain Name Renewal Scam
Domain name renewal was not complex enough, so now be on the look-out for a scam email from mailto:noreply@melbourneit.com.au which advises people that if they renewed domain names through MSN or Yahoo or other resellers, then they need to renew through Melbourne IT. Melbourne is the true registrar for MSN and Yahoo and…
"Coke Presents the NCAA Tournament from the Pepsi Arena"
Now here’s ambush marketing. Pepsi owns the naming rights to an arena in Albany that will host part of the NCAA Tournament. Coke is sponsoring the Tournament itself. The Pepsi signage will be covered up.
Three Way Car Trade Dress Tussle
South Bend Tribune on trademark issues inviolving the HUMMER and the Jeep and the Avanti XUV. Interesting history of the Jeep.
Blog Holds Trademark Robot Hostage
Don’t know what to make of this. NameProtect offers trademark policing and monitoring services. I assume that in order to monitor usage of a trademark on the Internet, it must employ some type of spidering software (or ‘bot). Little Green Footballs is a blog that writes on political issues. It keeps track of ‘bots and in…
And Of Course Freedom Fries With That
This NY Times article (registration required) discusses the possible effect of a war on American brands. The article also announces the debut of the McARABIA, a new sandwich from McDonalds consisting of chicken and salad in a bread pocket. Last week, someone attempted to firebomb a McDonalds in Saudi Arabia. No word on whether…