I’ve been catching up on some backed-up blog reading and came across this interesting post dated April 30, 2010 from our friends at The FairWinds Blog at DomainNameStrategy.com. It relates the story of the Georgetown Safeway, know to locals as "Social Safeway." As Liz Sweezey writes: The store earned the affectionate nickname “Social Safeway” many… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: July 2010
The Thin Red (or Black) Line
Posted in BrandingAs I was driving through summer construction earlier this week, I was stuck behind a truck with the following logo: This was excellent timing because just days before I had suddenly and inexplicably been struck by how simple, yet distinctive, I thought a particular logo had become – particularly the red line – and I wondered whether or not… Continue Reading
Social Networking – The Movie?
Posted in Law SuitsComing soon, to a theatre near you: Facebook, the movie, where social networking takes over the world. The film, which is actually titled The Social Network, tells the story of the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, now the youngest billionaire in history, and the enemies he made along the way. Check out the trailer here. Over the… Continue Reading
Ambush Marketing With A Twist of Twins Brand Bait?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Infringement, Marketing, TrademarksWith the brand new outdoor Target Field located in downtown Minneapolis, the buzz is palpable, and there is certainly more foot and other forms of traffic, especially on the end of town closest to where the Minnesota Twins now play their home games. Given that increased traffic I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that some businesses will… Continue Reading
Marketers Missing the Boom
Posted in Guest Bloggers, Marketing—David Mitchel, Vice President of Norton Mitchel Marketing The Nielsen Company released new research this past week indicating that the Baby Boomer generation is being neglected by brand marketers, particularly consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. This is not radical new insight, but it does highlight how this notion is becoming more mainstream. Those who follow… Continue Reading
Nature Truncates Otherwise Lawful Red Cross Pharmacy Name?
Posted in Branding, Infringement, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationSnapping a photo with a great trademark story is hard for me to resist. Thankfully my family is growing more and more patient with my brand-related photographic diversions and even they were amused with what we found on the way home from a camping trip this weekend. Until the tree shown in the above photo hit its… Continue Reading
Get a Load of This: General Mills Takes Offense in Trademark Spat Over Spuds
Posted in Branding, Food, Genericide, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksThey say that the best defense is a good offense. It appears that General Mills has adopted this strategy in a recent trademark dispute over the term LOADED in connection with instant potatoes. Just yesterday, the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reported the filing of a federal district court lawsuit by General Mills against Idahoan Foods, in which… Continue Reading
When is a Shuffle Not an iPod Shuffle?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Contracts, Counterfeits, Infringement, Marketing, TrademarksHere is a brand baiting gem spotted yesterday at a website called Daily Checkout: Unremarkable? A deal, you say? Well, the following disclaimer appears twice in the sidebar adjacent to this deal: And here is another feature pulled from the sidebar: Greeaat . . . an MP3 player that won’t work with iTunes. Seriously? In… Continue Reading
Rocker and Reality Star Settles Suit Regarding Trademark
Posted in TrademarksBand names are big merchandising business, including t-shirts, hats, posters and other paraphernalia. When checking the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) website for other band trademarks, I was not surprised that the lead singer and savvy businessperson Jon Bon Jovi (a.k.a. John Bongiovi) owns the Bon Jovi® trademark himself. Eighties band REO Speedwagon set… Continue Reading
A Famous Trademark That Casts a Very Long Shadow
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksThis is the epitome of a famous non-verbal logo and trademark that truly can stand alone (we have discussed others too): Hat tip to John Welch over at the TTABlog who did a very nice write up on this interesting decision: Apple, Inc. v. Echospin, LLC. Basically, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office… Continue Reading
The Crowd Versus the Dream Team
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Aaron Keller, Managing Principal at Capsule This is a rant. Beware and hide your eyes if your ears turn red. Why a rant? Because I’m wondering when average became great. For that matter, when did average become good? I’m not sure, but it seems like that’s what we’re striving for today: average. Let me explain… Continue Reading
Crowded Trademark Parties & Coexisting Store Names
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Loss of Rights, Marketing, TrademarksIf you don’t mind the wait, a crowded parking lot is often a good strategy when hunting for an excellent restaurant while you’re in unfamiliar territory. Similarly, a large crowd lining up outside a retail store is typically a good sign that the business is doing something right, or perhaps, they just happen to have something rare that everyone wants…. Continue Reading
Save Big What? Where?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Keyword Ads, Marketing, Search Engines, TrademarksSeeing this Cartridge World vehicle bumper led me to wonder, is it possible to save anything big besides money? And, not to worry, I didn’t snap the photo, I was doing the driving. The www.savebig.com website doesn’t seem to offer any help answering my question. According to a more complete Cartridge World slogan, what ever it is you… Continue Reading
The B-Word Again, A Commercial Sighting
Posted in Branding, Marketing, TrademarksAs you may recall, back in October, Randall Hull of The Br@nd Ranch® wrote about the Brinks Home Security re-brand to Broadview Security, in his post Will Any Old B-Word Do? This was Randall’s assessment: Personally, when I think Brink’s I see a big Rottweiler eyeing you warily. With Broadview I imagine a yappy Chihuahua chasing its tail. It is… Continue Reading
Head-To-Head Brand Baiting: Kindle App for iPad?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Infringement, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Configurations, TrademarksSteve has posted several times on "brand baiting" gimmicks–typically involving spam-type e-mails with enticing pictures or offers of well-known products or brands as rewards for "participation" . . . in, well, God knows what. (Steve’s previous posts here, here, and here.) Take a glance at them just to get the principle, then tell us what… Continue Reading
To Sponsor or Ambush? Part II – The Ambushers
Posted in Mixed Bag of NutsAs promised, here are the ambush ads in direct competition with the FIFA sponsors shown yesterday. Are these companies deceptively benefiting from these ads? Please share your thoughts. Pepsi: Nike: Carlsberg:
To Sponsor or Ambush?
Posted in Advertising, InfringementThe World Cup has come to a close. Have you fallen into football withdrawal? Well don’t despair, I thought we could enjoy it a bit longer with a discussion of ambush marketing and some of the advertising campaigns that came out of this year’s championship. Clearly, major sporting events are financed largely by sponsorships, which in turn,… Continue Reading
How the National Pastime Threw America a Curveball
Posted in Guest Bloggers—John Reinan, Senior Director at Fast Horse, a Minneapolis consumer marketing agency With baseball’s annual All-Star game set for tonight, it’s a good time to tell a tale calculated to drive any IP lawyer insane: how the National Pastime concocted and enshrined an entirely fictitious tale of the game’s origins. Anyone who’s visited baseball’s Hall… Continue Reading
Logo-less: When Does it Make Sense to Go Without?
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Marketing, TrademarksYesterday, we asked about when it might make sense to go brand-less, and whether doing so can be an effective marketing strategy long term. Today, I’m wondering, what and where would McDonalds be without the Golden Arches? Nike without the Swoosh? Shell Oil without the, well, Shell? Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher of BlackCoffee stirred up an interesting conversation on… Continue Reading
Going Brand-Less: To Be or Not to Be a Brand?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Domain Names, Goodwill, Marketing, TrademarksApparently, if you own one of the diminishing number of retail shops that specializes in tobacco products, it doesn’t really matter if you have a brand or a distinctive name, or not. Tell them what you sell, tell them you’re open for business, and they will come, I guess. This image got me thinking about how often this marketing strategy – if… Continue Reading
Department of Redundancy Department
Posted in BrandingHere’s a trademark that has always amused me: You can find it on a page of FedEx’s website, and it is on many FedEx boxes and trucks. As Steve has pointed out before, and as probably everybody older than the age of reason knows, FedEx is short for Federal Express, so this mark in one… Continue Reading
Blips, Bleeps, Churns and Chugs
Posted in SoundI have to give a shout out to my brother, Kevin, for finding and sending to me this wonderful bit of popular culture: Watching this, all I could think about was how many bits of the Super Mario Bros. Theme instantly evoke memories of playing this game as a kid. From the opening 7-note launch sequence,… Continue Reading
Seizing an Opportunity for Trademark Relief
Posted in CounterfeitsIn the vast majority of trademark infringement suits reported in the press, plaintiffs – whether they are trademark owners suing third parties for the unauthorized use of a mark or are third party users asking for a judge to declare that their use of a mark is lawful – generally seek injunctive relief. That is, plaintiffs… Continue Reading
Social Media Engagement in Regulated Industries
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Jared Roy, President, Risdall Integration Group The role and power of social media in today’s marketing strategies is undeniable. But Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, banking, insurance, spirits and publicly traded companies are all highly regulated and a social media nightmare, right? Not necessarily. It may take some work, but it is possible. If you work in healthcare… Continue Reading
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Duets Blog Authors
Steve Baird
Just so you know, I'm all about brands and the law, both professionally and personally. I regularly annoy family and friends in retail stores by focusing on product labels—not to buy the product, but to read the fine print and ask, "Who owns these brands" and "Did they really register those marks?" More...
Dan Kelly
You can call me a “non-traditional” attorney, which is a polite way of saying that I did not attend law school straight out of college. I spent five of my first six years after college as a junior high school teacher. The other year I worked as an engineer for a large corporation. More...
Sharon Armstrong
Voted most likely to become an actress while in pre-school, I don’t think I surprised anyone by becoming a lawyer, the steadiest professional gig open to those with a flair for the dramatic. More...
Brent Lorentz
Although I wish I could say my path to the law was the result of a lifelong dream or calling, it was more the result mere curiosity and an affinity for leather-bound books. More...
Catlan McCurdy
Having long been told by my parents that I could do or be anything I wanted, I chose at the age of 10 to become an attorney, as it was the career that would most likely lead me to my goal of becoming the first woman POTUS.More...
Tiffany Blofield
Although my initial career path was to be one of the Supremes (not the musically talented ones with platform shoes and sequins, but rather, the nine wearing sensible shoes and pressed black robes in DC), I will likely stay in Minnesota as I have never lived anywhere else. More...
Brad Walz
My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). More...
Susan Perera
Born into the world with an aptitude for science and an affinity for art I found my career path quickly chosen for me. More...
Derek Allen
In hindsight, writing about creativity and the law may have always been in the cards for me. I began training for a career in litigation at an early age by finding ways to disagree with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. In my longest-running “case,” I argued with my middle school math teacher, Mrs. Jabs, for the better part of four years over whether, even if I got the right answer, I had to show my work to get full credit. More...
Laura Gutierrez
An attorney I am not. Though told to become one, I don't possess those qualities needed to be an effective one (I lack confrontation skills, and although I can write a great argumentative essay, I can’t argue outside a sheet of paper). More...