Absorbing all the television commercials in between football action on the field can be as much fun on Super Bowl Sunday as the actual game itself, at least for trademark and marketing types, especially when your favorite team isn’t even on the field. One of my personal favorites from this past weekend’s Super Bowl XLVI was the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: False Advertising
Subscribe to False Advertising RSS FeedRedefining a Trademark Bully?
Posted in Almost Advice, Articles, False Advertising, Mixed Bag of Nuts, SoapBox, TrademarksWe’ve spilled a lot of digital ink discussing the trademark bullying topic, going all the way back to my original blog post from 2010: ”The Mark of a Real Trademark Bully.” Within the last several days, there has been quite a bit of online media coverage about Trademarkia’s new features that tout an ability to “Find… Continue Reading
When it Comes to Guest Blogging: Fine or Just Fine?
Posted in Branding, False Advertising, Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, TrademarksIn many contexts of our life experience, "fine" sadly seems to have drifted toward embodying mediocrity. Consider this all too common dialogue: "How are you?" "Oh, I’m fine." Or, perhaps, "Just fine." Translation: "O.K.," "average," "acceptable," "passable," "satisfactory," "I can’t complain," "I’ve been better," or maybe "could be much better" . . . . After all, how interested or… 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
What Do The Words You Choose Imply?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, False Advertising, Goodwill, MarketingThe words we choose to use in commercial signage, advertising, and marketing materials mean something. That’s why we use them, to communicate a fact, an opinion, or perhaps some other message. The use of certain words, can carry implied meanings too, some intended, and perhaps some unintended. For example, yesterday Seth Godin wrote this about… Continue Reading
Mark Zuckerberg Means What?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, False Advertising, Marketing, Social NetworkingThis billboard ad has been running in the Twin Cities for a while now, promoting a local car dealership who is very proud of its website: Does anyone seriously believe that Mark Zuckerberg – the twenty-seven year old president, chief executive officer, and co-creator of the Facebook social networking site — is jealous of the morries.com website?… Continue Reading
“Buried Treasure” – Securing Reimbursement for Monies Expended in Past Intellectual Property Lawsuits
Posted in Advertising, Agreements, Contracts, Copyrights, False Advertising, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Trademarks—David A. Gauntlett, Gauntlett & Associates Companies looking for extra money in these tough economic times may have an answer from the past. The vast majority of insurer denial letters for intellectual property lawsuits lack merit. Therefore, companies who have litigated intellectual property cases and expended significant monies in defense and settlement may be overlooking ready… Continue Reading
“. . . and what else floats in water?”
Posted in False Advertising, MarketingThe Boston Beer Company advertises quite a bit on a radio station that I listen to. The ads are usually voiced by the company’s founder, Jim Koch (pronounced "Cook"), and in many of the ads, he says that Samuel Adams beer has "a head so thick you can float a bottle cap on it." (You… Continue Reading
Best Buy, Resurrected From the Trademark Graveyard?
Posted in Branding, Dilution, Domain Names, False Advertising, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Marketing, TrademarksAs a trademark type, something struck me as odd about the Best Buy logo image appearing on the brand new outdoor baseball scoreboard at Target Field, during the Minnesota Twins recent home opener against the Boston Red Sox, so I captured a photograph to discuss it here on DuetsBlog. What caught my eye was the curious placement of the ® federal registration symbol. Its positioning adjacent to the words… Continue Reading
Medline Industries, Inc. v. 3M Company (False Advertising Complaint Attached)
Posted in Advertising, False Advertising, Law Suits, Marketingv. (Medline Sterillium Rub) (3M Avagard Surgical Scrub) In a very recent false advertising lawsuit, Medline Industries is all lathered up, alleging that 3M Company is playing dirty in the surgical hand antiseptic marketplace by making false and misleading statements in advertising about 3M’s Avagard brand surgical scrub and Medline’s competing Sterillium Rub brand surgical hand antiseptic. Here is… Continue Reading
Subscribe
Add this blog to your feeds or enter your email in the box below and hit GO to subscribe by email.
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...
Joy S. Newborg
When I took a personality/career test in high school to determine which path in life I should follow, I was told I should either be in broadcast journalism or law. So after I went to undergraduate school for broadcast journalism and film/television, I went on to obtain my law degree from the University of Minnesota. 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...