Tobacco Companies in Britain Assert Their Human Rights regarding tobacoo advertising, via Vice Squad.
PHAETON v. PHAETON
Russian company named Phaeton sues Volkswagen over use of PHAETON in Russia, via Just-auto.com.
This Is Your Brain On Brands
A study involving 67 people showed no preference for either Coca-Cola® (Coke®) or Pepsi® when the drinks were administered anonymously, according to results published in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Neuron. However, when told what they were drinking, roughly three-fourths preferred Coke. All 67 also submitted to brain scans.
From: Scientists can now
Stretch Pet Trade Dress Decision
Gateway Computers come in boxes with cow spots on them. Companion Products sell ‘stretch pets’ which extend over a computer monitor or cpu. Moose version depicted above. They used to sell a cow with spots. Gateway sued, alleging trade dress infringement, and prevailed.
Gateway v. Companion Products, 03-3410 (8th Cir sept 13, 2004).
GOOGLING, TIVO-LIKE, And Genericide
‘Genericide,’ is one phenomenon of trademark law that lay clients always seem to be aware of – that they could, in theory, lose their trademark if it becomes the generic term for that product (which I suppose is a secret fantasy of many clients).
ASPIRIN, CELLOPHANE and ESCALATOR are famous examples of a brand losing
FAHRENHEIT 9/11, FAHRENHYPE 9/11, And Made You Look Confusion
I was watching CNN and what I thought was a commercial for Fahrenheit 9/11 when suddenly I see Mayor Koch calling Michael Moore a liar. It was a commercial for Fahrenhype 9/11! Made me look!
By the way, if you type ‘Fahrenhype 9/11’ into Google, Google asks whether you meant ‘Fahrenheit 9/11.’
Clearly the name
Cert Filed in Grokster
Cert petition filed by various movie studios and record labels in Grokster, via Scotus Blog. Background here.
Tennis Ball Logo v. Tennis Ball Logo
Ellesse has sued Sean “P Diddy” Combs for trademark infringement in connection with his use of a tennis ball logo on his SEAN JOHN line of clothing.
Pixel Counts
The Trademark Office has relaxed its regulations regarding pixel count in drawings submitted.
Reading Other People's Mail con't
Here is a demand letter via The Smoking Gun written by Mary-Kate Olsen’s representatives to the distributor of a Save Mary-Kate T-Shirt, alleging trademark, publicity and privacy right infringement.