DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Monthly Archives: October 2009

Serving Up More Alphabet Soup at W’s XYZ?

By on Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, Trademarks

  One of Minneapolis’ most recent hotel additions, Aloft Hotel, branded as a "hip" hotel and a "vision" of Starwood’s W, apparently features the WXYZ Bar. Or is it XYZ? I’m not sure, and I’m not sure if Starwood or W have made up their minds yet either (as there appears to be different font, size, and spacing between the W and the lower case… Continue Reading

Testing Trademark Law: U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. The Yes Men

By on Posted in Counterfeits, Dilution, Domain Names, Famous Marks, First Amendment, Infringement, Law Suits, Trademarks

Last week, a group calling themselves The Yes Men apparently perpetrated an elaborate hoax to usurp the corporate persona of the United States Chamber of Commerce, to the point of publishing a fake website and holding a press conference at the National Press Club, posing as the Chamber itself.   (Image of genuine website here.) As reported… Continue Reading

Should “Bootleg” Toys Be Shut Down?

By on Posted in Branding, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Law Suits, Trademarks

It depends. “Gray market” goods are those goods that are sold outside of the brand owner’s authorized distribution channels. Although a trademark owner may consider them “bootleg,” “gray market” goods are actually legally acquired abroad and then imported into the United States without the trademark owner’s consent. These actions do not legally infringe the trademark under the Lanham… Continue Reading

Whatever Happened to the Adversarial System?

By on Posted in Almost Advice, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing

My job sometimes is rescuing attorneys, often from themselves. Perhaps the quintessential illustration is a comment made by a corporate general counsel recently, whose organization was responsible for a number of victims, including fatalities. Her opening line to me was, “We’re not the empathy department in this company.” However, the reason she was talking to me was that… Continue Reading

Essential Spacing: Night & Day Commercial Impressions

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Keyword Ads, Marketing, Search Engines, Sight, Trademarks

Millimeters apart on the label, miles apart in meaning. Yes, a few extra millimeters of blank space can make all the difference in the world for some brands. Especially when the brand name consists of two words, and the typical visual treatment has all letters appearing in identical size and style (all caps), and when compressing the words yields an unintended,… Continue Reading

Wrestlers and Enophiles: Let’s Get Ready to RUMBLE!!!*

By on Posted in Branding, Dilution, Food, Trademarks

VS. Remarkably, this is not a new promotion for World Wrestling Entertainment.  No, a few outlets reported last week that WWE has opposed The American Wine Foundation’s application to register the trademark SOMMELIER SMACKDOWN for use in connection with "Entertainment services, namely, conducting contests in the field of food and wine pairing; Entertainment services, namely,… Continue Reading

I’ve Got a “Beef” with Beef.

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food

Every now and then, I come across branding campaigns which make me ask "What were they thinking?"  Although the question may sound condescending, I often ask it in a literal sense, trying to figure out why advertisers made certain decisions.   One particular advertising campaign that I can’t figure out is the "Land of Beef."… Continue Reading

Describe Different

By on Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Search Engines, Trademarks

"What am I?" Every invention begs this essential question of identity. The answer is found in the product’s descriptor. A descriptor defines a thing, categorizing it, framing it, positioning it and signaling its intended future. A product that doesn’t claim to break new ground adopts its category’s standard convention. For example, a new, run-of-the-mill digital… Continue Reading

Fair Use of 3M’s Post-It Note?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Infringement, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks

This billboard ad has appeared in various locations around the Twin Cities for some time now.  Each time I saw it, I wondered whether it would be the last, given how vigilant 3M is in protecting its various trademarks and other intellectual property. This time, I had a camera handy to capture it. Now it’s time for some questions. Is there any… Continue Reading

Update: Who’s Your Patty? Lawsuit and Reverse Confusion

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademarks

The Minneapolis Star Tribune finally reported on the Who’s Your Patty? trademark infringement lawsuit filed in August by self-proclaimed "David" (Lion’s Tap) against "Goliath" (McDonald’s), here. Our previous coverage is here, here, and here. The Star Tribune reports that McDonald’s has not yet answered the complaint filed by Lion’s Tap. That’s true, but all that means is… Continue Reading

Do You Seal What I Seal? A Suit on Wax Bottle Seals

By on Posted in Branding, Dilution, Food, Infringement, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, Sight, Trademarks

Have you ever seen a bottle with a top that resembles this image?  Do you associate it with a single source?  Do you associate it with a particular product?  If so, which source or product?  Would you think that the product pictured below comes from the same source?     How about this one?  These… Continue Reading

David Takes on Goliath

By on Posted in Trademarks

Reverse confusion trademark infringement claims are sometimes reminiscent of the well-known biblical story of David versus Goliath.  This doctrine basically protects smaller, lesser known, trademark owners whose trademarks are infringed upon by large multi-national companies with gigantic advertising budgets.  You may want to check out a few prior posts on DuetsBlog relating to Lion’s Tap and… Continue Reading

Lawsuits – Back in Fashion This Fall

By on Posted in Infringement, Law Suits

Last week, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported that Coach filed a complaint in New York against Minneapolis-based Target Corporation, alleging infringement of two of its handbag designs.  Coach claims Target’s new designs are too similar to two of its bags, including the Ergo and Signature Patchwork bags:   Target is not alone.  Coach also filed a lawsuit against Brown Shoe Co.,… Continue Reading

Affiliate Marketing

By on Posted in Advertising, Domain Names, Food, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademarks

Trademark Infringement is a sticky subject online. Our first blog talked about Twitter and trademark infringement and today I want to address trademark infringement in relation to affiliate marketing.  Affiliate Marketing is a process that rewards a blog or website for every customer that is brought to the company (the affiliate) that blog or website… Continue Reading

Alpha Watch: Li’l “a” Goes to the “e” Market

By on Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, Trademarks, Truncation

The single-letter branding and trademark truncation trend continues. Can you name the retailer selling online gift cards sent by e-mail, using no other identification besides the li’l "a" shown here? Does this li’l "a" logo with a radish inside help? How about these, do they help?   Well, just so you know, it’s not this retailer: 

Latest gTLD Applicant Guidebook Open for Comment

By on Posted in Domain Names

I assume that most readers have heard that the universe of Internet domain names may be expanding next year.  Instead of being limited to a finite number of relatively mundane top-level domain extensions like ".com" and ".org," ICANN is planning to allow for the registration of any string of characters to the right of the… Continue Reading

Apple vs. Apple: Protecting Your Brand Abroad

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

The inquiring minds at TechDirt have unearthed a spat between Apple and Woolworths (the supermarket chain in New Zealand and Australia) due to the latter’s adoption of a curly-cue-letter-W-shaped mark, shown below:     Putting aside dilution issues, the central question would appear to be whether confusion is possible, let alone likely, given that Woolworths… Continue Reading

Will Any Old B-Word Do?

By on Posted in Guest Bloggers

This may have gone largely unnoticed but it did catch my attention. Brink’s Home Security recently changed their brand name to Broadview Security and is spending $120 million to tell us about it, as discussed here, here, and here. Broadview? Really? Is that the best the branding team at Landor Associates could come up with? Pardon my terminal preposition…. Continue Reading

Striking The Pose of Differentiation?

By on Posted in Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Marketing, Sight, Trademarks

As you’ll see, I’m no equestrian (nor equine expert for that matter), but given the non-verbal logos shown above, are you able to tell what company operates a fleet of these semi tractor-trailers? Does the color of the horse help? Horse breed? The direction it is facing? How about its pose? Some possible considerations and the answer below the jump.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics: Advertising on the Internet

By on Posted in Advertising, Keyword Ads, Marketing, Search Engines, Social Networking

Professors at the University of Pennsylvania and at UC Berkeley School of Law released a study this week conclusively titled "Americans Reject Tailored Advertising," suggesting that there is high resistance among individuals to tailored advertising on the Internet.  (Press release from Penn here, NYT coverage here.)  Although I have been unable to download a copy… Continue Reading