DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Monthly Archives: June 2009

Personal Branding and Trademarks: Avoiding One-Dimensional Caricatures

By on Posted in Branding, Marketing, Trademarks

A lot can be learned about personal branding from Winnie the Pooh & Friends: Many years ago we had a family friend who believed she was able to simplify anyone she encountered into a character from Winnie the Pooh & Friends. He’s a real Tigger, so impulsive. She’s a Piglet, such a worry-wort. He’s so Rabbit, a regular self-proclaimed know-it-all. She is so curiously… Continue Reading

The King of Pop’s Most Recognizable Trademark?

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks

In light of the news of Michael Jackson’s passing (may he rest in peace), and as we ready for the likely months-long parade of tributes, allow me to make mine early, and then be done. Despite the corpus of undeniably catchy pop music, standard-setting music videos, and well-recognized dance moves, I submit that Michael Jackson’s… Continue Reading

Holiday Inn Lights It Up With a Pair of Non-Traditional Trademarks

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Look-For Ads, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

Notice anything special about this pair of photographs featuring two different Holiday Inn front entrances? OK, putting aside that the one on the right — with green lighting — seems to have attracted, at least, a few cars, whereas the "blue light special" on the left appears to stage a full house with virtually every room light… Continue Reading

No Genius Required

By on Posted in Trademarks

As an opening note, I am able to write about more than being a new mom, but it does bring up previously unexplored and interesting topics. Today: Baby Einstein. While I am sure most mothers agree that television is not the best thing for an infant, given the success of the Baby Einstein videos, it seems… Continue Reading

Thriving In A Speeded-Up World

By on Posted in Domain Names, Guest Bloggers, Trademarks

Moore’s Law holds that the power of an integrated circuit will double every two years. That prediction, made in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, has proved remarkably durable. The continued application of Moore’s Law has taken us in a few decades from crude transistor radios to handheld information devices packing more power than entire rooms… Continue Reading

Crunch Berries: Deceptive or Suggestive?

By on Posted in Food, Law Suits, Trademarks

I will assume that by now you have heard of the Crunch Berries lawsuit that was dismissed about a month ago in federal district court in California.  If not, you should read this post about it at the blog Lowering the Bar.  (The update is also quite humorous.)  The brief summary is that an individual filed… Continue Reading

Just Verb It? Part II: A Legal Perspective on Using Brands As Verbs

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Genericide, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Search Engines, Trademarks

It is probably fair to say from my initial Just Verb It? post, the many articles referenced in that post, the substantial panel of commentary to the post, and additional interest in the topic, that at least two truths about "brandverbing" are beyond much, if any, debate: (1) Lawyers (including the International Trademark Association’s guidelines on proper trademark use) routinely advise brand… Continue Reading

Celebrate Your Freedom to Use Cheesy (ahem, Leafy) Puns

By on Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Taste, Trademarks

With Independence Day just around the corner, perhaps it is time to reflect on some of the freedoms that we enjoy by residing in the land of purple mountains majesty. Freedom of speech? Check. Freedom of assembly? Check. Freedom to use other people’s trademarks, the very basis from which their brands spring, in descriptive and/or non-source identifying ways? Check…. Continue Reading

The Case of the Screwed Screw Maker

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Marketing, Trademarks

My business partner just finished building his deck. In addition to the bureaucratic ordeal, that is obtaining permitting, he decided to go the extra frustrating mile and install composite deck boards versus treated wood. Fair enough. There was just one little wrinkle: Normal deck screws will "mushroom" on you unless they are pre-drilled, or worse,… Continue Reading

Kimberly-Clark and The Color Purple: Keeping Trademark Scope Current and Consistent with Business Scope

By on Posted in Branding, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Touch, Trademarks

Kimberly-Clark® is no stranger to securing federal registrations for its various non-traditional trademarks. No doubt, these unconventional trademark assets are of great commercial value and an important part of K-C’s evolving business strategy and intellectual property portfolio. My previous post about the oval-shaped facial tissue container K-C was able to federally register in November 2007 is linked here. That… Continue Reading

Time to Defend your Rights on Facebook

By on Posted in Domain Names, Trademarks

This past Tuesday, June 9, Facebook, Inc. announced on its blog that, as of 12:01 EDT on Saturday, June 13 (that’s tomorrow), Facebook users will be able to register for unique user names on a first-come, first-served basis.  Each user name will be incorporated into a personalized URL of the format http://www.facebook.com/firstname.lastname or http://www.facebook.com/username, depending… Continue Reading

Just Verb It? A Legal Perspective on Using Brands As Verbs: Part I

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Genericide, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks

There is a growing interest and, quite frankly, a dogged persistence among branding professionals to select brand names that have the ability and potential to be "verbed." This makes trademark attorney types nervous and those of the "Dr. No" variety actually become unglued. So, why the emphasis or fascination with verbs anyway? The answer apparently can be found in the definition of a… Continue Reading

Mommy Bloggers Mean Business

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing

Mommy Bloggers are an ever-growing group of women, estimated to number well into the millions, connecting over the Internet and sharing stories, tips and information relating to all aspects of motherhood.  There is no doubt Mommy Bloggers are impacting the on-line advertising and marketing world.  BusinessWeek recently ran an article dedicated to pitching products and services… Continue Reading

Misleading Pharma Ads on Search Engines (Google)

By on Posted in Advertising, Almost Advice, Guest Bloggers, Keyword Ads, Marketing, Search Engines, Trademarks

In April the FDA sent formal letters to a number of pharma companies warning them of their misleading paid search ads in Google. Essentially the FDA wants pharma brands to put their full name of their product and associated risks in the ad. The problem as stated by pharma companies is that these paid search ads in… Continue Reading

Picking Levi’s Pocket or Nominative Fair Use?

By on Posted in Advertising, Almost Advice, Branding, Fair Use, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks

We have had somewhat of an unplanned blue jeans theme here at DuetsBlog, with Karen blogging about the upside down triangle logo associated with Guess designer jeans from the 1980s, here, and Tiffany blogging about Levi Strauss and Abercrombie & Fitch butting heads, here. My turn now to talk about a blue jean brand, along with airbrushing, non-traditional… Continue Reading

The French Connection: Coca-Cola Knocks Out A Dizzy Yoplait

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, International, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Trademarks

Josh Brooks of packagingnews.co.uk reports, here, that Coca-Cola has succeeded before the Paris Court of Appeal in banning the production and sale of Yoplait’s Dizzy brand "milk-based fizzy drink." Coca-Cola’s winning Blak bottle is shown below side-by-side with the losing Yoplait Dizzy bottle:                                                It appears from the news report that the French success was based purely on the… Continue Reading

Tasty Humor?

By on Posted in Advertising, Food, Marketing, Product Packaging

My wife and I recently received a gift of chocolate, called the Marital Bliss Bar, from Bloomsberry & Co.  The packaging is quite humorous: Bloomsberry’s other chocolates are also in generally humorous packages, with some bordering on edgy, even racy — all can be viewed at its website.  Humor in marketing and product packaging carries some… Continue Reading

CatchThis: It Might Be Called Bing, But It’s Not Google

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Search Engines, Trademarks

                                         Microsoft is flashing its latest version of bling with its launch yesterday of the much anticipated “decision engine” it has dubbed Bing. I agree the new brand name has a nice ring (according to Microsoft, the “sound of found”), with great brevity, rhythm and cadence, but sorry, I’m sticking with the generic name “search… Continue Reading

“Shift the Conversation”

By on Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Sound, Touch

Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Method products. They are non-toxic, smell good, they come in the kind of stylish product packaging that you can display on any countertop, and they work. So it should come to no surprise that Method is a brand with fans. What other manufacturer of toilet bowl cleaner can you think… Continue Reading

How David Can Beat Goliath in Naming OTC Medicines

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Trademarks

After 25+ years in the highly competitive world of OTC medicines, I’ve learned some things about naming products. One thing I’ve learned is you have to understand the “Goliaths” of the category and zig when they zag. Many OTC categories are dominated by brands that have been building equity for 50+ years. Brands like TUMS® (75+… Continue Reading