The Trademark Blog

Muhammad Ail sells 80% of his name (which would be either MUHAMMAD A or HAMMAD ALI, depending where you started) for $50 million up front plus, to CKX, a licensing firm. Terms of deal here.

It can be argued that Muhammad Ali is the most famous person in the world but how would you measure that? Unaided awareness? Here's a methodological problem - Who is the Pope? Who is Benedict XVI? and Who is Joseph Ratiznger? will produce different results (as will Who is the President of the U.S.? and Who Is George Bush?).

Maybe 'Who Has The Most Recognized Face' has a different answer than 'Who Has The Most Recognized Name.'

Posted by Marty at 10:14 PM | Permalink

Tide fan whose van is pictured on cover of book about Alabama football sues author.

Posted by Marty at 10:41 PM | Permalink

From the Bird & Bird case bulletin on HRH Prince of Wales v. Associated Newspapers: "The decision on Friday in HRH Prince of Wales v Associated Newspapers examined the balancing act between protecting a public person's private life and press freedom. It reviewed the extent to which confidential information and copyright works can be protected in such circumstances."

UPDATE: Prof. Patry commentary here.

Posted by Marty at 08:21 PM | Permalink

Nor, apparently, did he write the blog discussed here.

Posted by Marty at 08:24 AM | Permalink

. . . even though it's germane. Playboy has refused to pull its March issue featuring Ms. Alba on the cover (background here). As to Ms. Alba's argument that the appearance on the cover of Playboy suggests (promises? implies? teases?) that the subject will appear nude or semi-nude (why isn't it demi-nude?) inside the magazine, Playboy has asserted that 'celebrities routinely grace the cover without appearing nude inside.'

This seems like a testable proposition if we could define celebrity. But is the prior track record of celebrity covers known to, and does it matter to an optimistic readership?

Posted by Marty at 07:34 PM | Permalink

Jessica Alba refused to pose for Playboy's cover. Playboy obtained a photo from the studio for Alba's latest movie and ran that.

From the letter to Playboy from Lavely & Singer (Alba's attorneys) (via The Smoking Gun):

". . . Playboy has established a known custom and practice (and an expectation with and among the public) that any woman whose photograph is featured on the cover appears in a nude or semi-nude pictorial in that month's issue. In featuring Ms. Alba's photograph on the cover of Playboy's March Issue, it is clear that Playboy's intent was to create a false belief and/or expectation among the public that Ms. Alba voluntarily appeared in the nude or semi-nude and that a revealing pictorial of her is contained in Playboy's March Issue . . ."

There is also an unauthorized Playboy bunny on Ms. Alba's breast.

Posted by Marty at 11:15 AM | Permalink

Steven Colbert either coined the term TRUTHINESS or is most responsible for its popularization. He introduced it as his 'word of the day' in the first episode of his show THE COLBERT REPORT in October and the concept of 'feeling the truth' caught on. By the end of the year, the American Linguists Society, which defined the word as:

'the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true,'

to be the Word of the Year.

According to the latest polls, 44% of Americans don't get this joke yet.

While Colbert has received general attribution for popularizing the term, when the AP didn't, Colbert took them to task, announcing them to be the greatest threat to America, displacing bears from that position.

The commercialization has begun. TRUTHINESS t-shirts are available on Cafe Press. The domain name TRUTHINESS.COM has been registered. However, there's nothing on TESS yet.

Colbert is right to protect his claim. For now, he has a plausible argument that the term is part of his 'persona', in the way in which HERE'S JOHNNY was a protectable part of Johnny Carson's persona. And he should file an application.

Good introduction to Right of Publicity here.

Posted by Marty at 10:09 AM | Permalink

Prof Patry on Tom Waits on those who mimic Waits for profit.

Trivia: Which Tom Waits song contains the lyric: "Change your life, change into a 9 year old Hindu boy"?

Answer here.

Posted by Marty at 01:54 PM | Permalink

Gawker on protection of IP related to Martin Luther King. Hat tip David.

Posted by Marty at 04:56 PM | Permalink

Atrios is the pseudonym for a blogger who writes for the popular Eschaton blog. Three times today he posted critical comments of Arlen Specter and ended all of them by providing Specter's contact info and the exhortation that his readers call Specter and ask him provocative questions.

If many people called Specter and ask him provocative questions, Specter may well be annoyed.

Does Specter have a cause under the new Intent to Annoy law (that he had a hand in drafting)? Can he force Atrios to testify as to his 'intent'?

Atrios provides a link to what he says is his real name. Is that a complete defense? Does Atrios have to forego anomynity because of this law?

More on Intent to Annoy here from Professor Volokh, (emphasizing that for purposes of anti-stalking laws, one-to-one communications such as phone and emial, are qualitatively different from one-to-many communications, such as websites.

Posted by Marty at 02:28 PM | Permalink

Must-read: Peyton Manning: The Man And The Brand, via This Blog . . . Hat tip to the less famous Froomkin.

Posted by Marty at 10:14 AM | Permalink

Sixth Circuit discussion of, inter alia, award of attorneys fees under the Lanham Act. Discussion of case by Silicon Valley Media Law Blog here.

Andretti v. Borla Performance Industries, civ 04-1835 (6th Circuit, October 21, 2005).

Posted by Marty at 05:17 PM | Permalink