My post from a couple of days ago, commenting on Chick-fil-A’s EAT MOR CHIKIN slogan and the associated Cow Campaign and advertisements, neglected to discuss an issue – one so important — that I’m compelled to raise it now, as it appears to have disturbed my otherwise healthy cognitive system. It has disturbed me as much as one of my amphibian-loving sons was… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: November 2011
Dish Network v. Arch Specialty
Posted in Guest Bloggers—David A. Gauntlett, Gauntlett & Associates Reversing the district court, the Tenth Circuit found a duty to defend claim asserted by RAKTL under various business method patent claims. In so finding, the court reached a distinct result from that achieved in Discover Financial Services, LLC v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 527 F…. Continue Reading
Eat More Anything?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Infringement, Marketing, Television, Trademarks, TTABAn allegation of trademark bullying is in the news again, this time Chick-fil-A is the accused Goliath – charged with overreaching in its enforcement efforts relating to intellectual property rights in the very clever and creative EAT MOR CHIKIN a/k/a The Cow Campaign and advertisements: Perhaps you’re wondering what aspect of the Cow Campaign Chick-fil-A is seeking to protect?… Continue Reading
Visa Branding: A Combined Alpha & Brand Verbing Alert
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, TrademarksWe have been following the truncation trend to single-letter branding symbols for some time now. Visa appears to be heading in this direction with the relatively new V logo: Based on trademark filings at the USPTO, it appears Visa began using this single-letter V logo by itself back in 2008 with the launch of a… Continue Reading
Use Thanksgiving as an Excuse
Posted in MarketingIt’s Thanksgiving—we’ve all got food on the brain. I’m sure we can agree that Thanksgiving is a great excuse to take in excessive calories of turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie…(yum). Sweet potatoes. Green beans…Anyway…where was I? Oh yes. Excuses. Since Thanksgiving is one of those few times a year most of America is “on… Continue Reading
The Verb-ing Continues
Posted in TelevisionOn multiple occasions DuetsBloggers have discussed the risk of verb-ing your brand. While I won’t go into the legal and branding concerns which have been discussed at length, I do find it interesting how frequently these brand verb uses show up in current advertising. Clearly the marketing types aren’t cringing at the use of brands as verbs… Continue Reading
Entrepreneurship, Emotional Roller Coaster
Posted in Guest Bloggers—Neil F. Anderson, Founder& President, The Courage Group, Inc. Starting a business from scratch, bootstrapping your own gig with limited funds, is the ultimate E-Ticket ride, the ultimate roller coaster ride. Only this 24/7 ride is more emotional than physical. Most people during their lives never take this roller coaster ride, as most are working for… Continue Reading
Putting the Shoe on the Other Tootsie
Posted in Agreements, Branding, Dilution, Domain Names, Famous Marks, Food, Goodwill, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, TrademarksThere was a time when a certain kind of small business owner – strapped for cash — with a meager promotional budget, easily could be tempted to adopt a "clever" name, as a "short-cut," to "play off" a well-known, iconic brand, but in the end, he or she probably was convinced by counsel that doing so would be… Continue Reading
High Fructose Corn Syrup, Thy Name is Not Corn Sugar
Posted in Advertising, Branding, False Advertising, Food, Law Suits, MarketingMore than a year ago, I blogged about high fructose corn syrup getting a makeover. The Corn Refiners Association has undertaken a campaign to rename high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar." (See SweetSurprise.com and CornSugar.com to be indoctrinated.) I recently learned that a number of sugar companies (that’s cane sugar or beet sugar) sued… Continue Reading
Viva Trademark Protection!
Posted in International, TrademarksMy wife and I were in Puerto Rico this past week for our one year wedding anniversary. Please hold your applause. For those of you who’ve never been, the above photo is actually of Fort San Felipe del Morro taken from the adjacent Fort San Cristobal in Old San Juan. Because I’m an attorney (and therefore naturally… Continue Reading
Thinking About Where to Think . . . .
Posted in Idea ProtectionOur friend Jorg over at the Idea Peepshow wrote earlier this week about the importance of taking the time to think — how true. It’s good to know that Jorg’s 1949 Ford tractor serves a greater purpose than simply helping him mow the grass at his country orchard; it provides a suitable place/vehicle to Just Think. And,… Continue Reading
Nationwide, But an Ocean Apart
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, International, Marketing, Trademarks—Alan Bergstrom, Brand Insights As an occasional contributor to the DuetsBlog, I have pointed out irregularities as well as similarities among brand names and identities. I recently ran across an interesting case of international “double identity” that has even me scratching my head as to the probability of pure coincidence. For me, it certainly raises questions… Continue Reading
Brilliant Trademark Advice or Baloney?
Posted in Almost Advice, Genericide, Marketing, TrademarksA few bits of trademark advice recently passed across my screen from The Marketing Blog: Turning Entrepreneurs Into Marketers – advice that I believe deserves some friendly comment and critique, leaving you to decide whether any of it rises to the level of brilliant trademark advice or sinks to the level of trademark baloney: "Trademark as you go. Don’t wait… Continue Reading
First in Time on the Internet
Posted in Branding, Domain Names, Marketing, Social NetworkingYesterday, Laura provided some good marketing reasons for grabbing your company’s brand name(s) and/or trademark(s) on various social media sites while the marks and brands are still available. I am not a marketing professional, but I agree with everything that she has said, and I’m here to provide some "legal" reasons for grabbing your company’s… Continue Reading
Get Your Brand Name While it’s Hot
Posted in MarketingIt’s on my profile, but I’ll tell you again—an attorney I am not. From a legal standpoint, I’m not qualified to tell you why brands and/or businesses should grab their social network names while they are still available (Dan Kelly is, and he’ll be tackling that on Friday). However, I am qualified to tell you… Continue Reading
“Punch-Dub” Replaced with “High-Five”?
Posted in TelevisionWho doesn’t love a good commercial, because lets face it, there are plenty of sub-par ones out there. And some brands have been more consistent in creating entertaining commercials than others. Maybe you’ve seen Volkswagen’s recently released "High-Five" commercial for the 2012 Beetle that contains some catchy music and is reminiscent of Volkswagen’s older "Punch-Dub"… Continue Reading
Obama Campaign Sues to Protect Trademarks
Posted in Law SuitsPresident Obama campaigned hard to win his presidency. Only a trademark attorney would ignore his excellent oratory skills and attribute his success to his campaign trademarks. However, even pundits attribute some of President Obama’s success to his use of social networking and marketing prowess. In connection with his campaign, President Obama for America (“OFA”) registered several trademarks… Continue Reading
Artisan Puffery?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Genericide, Marketing, TrademarksThere once was a day when being an "artisan" meant something: "A person or company that makes a high-quality, distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand using traditional methods: artisan foods." The key elements of an artisan’s handiwork seem to be hand-crafted, distinctive products of high-quality that are produced in small numbers. Perhaps bread from the… Continue Reading
Protecting the Least Sophisticated Potential Consumers
Posted in Famous Marks, Infringement, Trademarks, TTABWhen the "trademark bully" epithet is hurled at a trademark owner "caught in the act" of enforcing or otherwise protecting its intellectual property rights, another common accompaniment is the expressed outrage and indignation that no one could ever possibly be confused. Here are a few points worth noting: The test of infringement is likelihood of confusion, not actual confusion. Likelihood of confusion is… Continue Reading
Tiffany and Co. Joins Louboutin in the Fashion Color War
Posted in Sight, TrademarksAnother fashion icon has joined the ongoing trademark dispute between Yves Saint Laurent and Louboutin, and despite the fact that many of its goods are very small, the company is actually quite a giant. Tiffany and Company. Yes, Tiffany. We’ve all been waiting for the company’s two amicus cents to be thrown into the fight…. Continue Reading
The “Situation” is Creating a Situation
Posted in Law Suits, TrademarksI recently blogged about Trademarks held by and registered to the Kardashians. Another popular reality show is “Jersey Shore” that follows the lives of eight twenty-something roommates initially at the Jersey Shore (hence the name of the show), but also living in Miami and Italy during seasons 2 and 4. They are known for their partying,… Continue Reading
Silence Can Be Toxic – Or, Tips for Counteracting Trademark Bullies
Posted in Guest Bloggers—James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA; President, The Lukaszewski Group Division of Risdall Public Relations On July 20, 2011, Steve Baird wrote in this blog, When Silence Is Not Very Golden, “We’re not recommending silence as a strategy for dealing with trademark demand letters”, and he pointed out the probable pitfalls of remaining silent… 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...