I have blogged before about one of my favorite graffiti artists, Banksy. Recently there has been some buzz in the ad world about another provocative work attributed to him. It involves a well-known bottle and trademark that Steve has been posting about frequently over the past several weeks. Normally I would post an image of it here, but… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Squirrelly Thoughts
Subscribe to Squirrelly Thoughts RSS FeedNutty News: Dear Biggest Fan, Here’s a Cease-and-Desist Letter
Posted in Almost Advice, Branding, Domain Names, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Food, Social Media, Squirrelly Thoughts, Trademark Bullying, TrademarksYou have to be one big fan of a company or product to establish a World {What-You-Cannot-Live-Without} Day. Well, a sticky situation with the well-known hazelnut spread Nutella may have you rethinking your public affection. Back in 2007, Sarah Rosso (Nutella Fan) established World Nutella Day to celebrate her affection for Nutella. Within the past… Continue Reading
Is Strange A Good Naming Strategy?
Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly Thoughts- Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash In 1967 The Doors wrote a song called “People Are Strange.” In the chorus, the lyrics include the phrase, “No one remembers your name when you’re strange.” It seems like some current fashion labels think that advice no longer applies. “If you are building a brand from scratch, you’re going… Continue Reading
Dr. Cure to the Rescue
Posted in Branding, Guest Bloggers, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly Thoughts- Aaron Keller, Managing Principal, Capsule “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By another other name would still smell as sweet” – Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet During a recent bout with the flu, I visited my local urgent care and was assigned a nice doctor who went by the surname “cure.”… Continue Reading
Are You the New Year’s Resolution Type?
Posted in Squirrelly ThoughtsI’ve never really been much of the New Year’s resolution type — what is so magical about January 1 for deciding to make a change? Nevertheless, this year I decided to jump on the bandwagon and come up with one. But, recognizing that the typically low success rate can be increased when the resolution is… Continue Reading
Merry Christmas
Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly ThoughtsThis image is currently trending on Bing: Anyone know who it is? In addition to wishing everyone Happy Holidays during this wonderful holiday season, we’d also like to wish those who celebrate Christmas a very Merry Christmas too!
Farewell
Posted in Squirrelly Thoughts–Dan Kelly, Attorney After a nearly four-year run, I am hanging up my keyboard as a regular contributor to DuetsBlog. I have accepted new employment, so I am bidding bon voyage to Winthrop & Weinstine, and with it, my regular writing here. In my blogging career here, I have written some 140 posts on a… Continue Reading
Malarkey: Political Storytelling
Posted in Advertising, Branding, False Advertising, Marketing, Squirrelly ThoughtsVice President Joe Biden recently revived popular use of the word “malarkey” or “malarky” — a word that essentially means “nonsense.” Our DuetsBlog friend Nancy Friedman, author of the award-winning Fritinancy Blog, covered “Malarkey” as the “Word of the Week” earlier this month. So, imagine my surprise to pass by a restaurant called Malarkys in Grand Rapids, Michigan this past weekend;… Continue Reading
Business Leadership and Olympic Badminton – Both take courage
Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly ThoughtsWard C. Schendel, Business Coach, KnowledgeSphere Group of AdviCoach Most of us have now heard about the Olympic badminton players disqualified for trying to intentionally lose their preliminary matches in order to gain a better pairing in the next round. The thing that strikes me as strange about the whole thing is not that players… Continue Reading
Where Did Spam Get Its Name?
Posted in SoapBox, Squirrelly Thoughts–Dan Kelly, Attorney I’m speaking of the e-mail variety of spam. I had occasion recently to ask some tech-savvy folks if they knew the origin of the word “spam” as applied to voluminous, unwanted e-mail. Most did not. I am aware that a few stories have been floated on the etymology of spam as applied… Continue Reading
Tree Hugging Evidence of Successful Trademark Enforcement?
Posted in Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Squirrelly Thoughts, Trademark Bullying, TrademarksIt is not every day that tree rings are trending on Bing. This image got me thinking about how it might be an even better image to illustrate how effective trademark enforcement can impact the scope of trademark rights. As you may recall, I have illustrated this concept before using the perfectly regular concentric circles… Continue Reading
Sharing the Duets Stage?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksI don’t really have anything to say, since I haven’t seen ABC’s Duets television show, and NBC’s The Voice already won my household over, except to say: At least Duets is a protected and federally-registered name and mark for what we do around here on DuetsBlog. Any… Continue Reading
Re-Branding Can Be A Painful Experience
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksThis roadside sign near exit 115 on Interstate 94 in Wisconsin was hard to resist capturing. My first thought: I hope more care goes into the tattoo removal process than it took to create the cold, basic sign shown here. And, hearing how painful tattoo removal is, the stark blood red letters don’t demonstrate an interest to calm… Continue Reading
American Cheese, Indeed
Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts, SoapBox, Squirrelly Thoughts–Dan Kelly, Attorney A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were dining out. Neither of us can remember the specifics (life with a newborn will do this to you), but my hazy recollection is that one of us ordered something with cheese, and following the standard interrogatory about the type of cheese, it… Continue Reading
Duey is Two!
Posted in Guest Bloggers, Mixed Bag of Nuts, SoapBox, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksToday marks the second anniversary for DuetsBlog. So, Duey is two! As shown above, a number of Duey’s family members and friends attended the festivities. Besides, noting the more than 700 posts over the last two years, the more than 900 comments, and the nearly 600,000 visits, Duey celebrated DuetsBlog being named one of the "Top 50… Continue Reading
“Powerful” Rebranding at International Trademark Association?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, SoapBox, Social Networking, Squirrelly Thoughts–Dan Kelly, Attorney The International Trademark Association, known as INTA, unveiled a new website yesterday with some new branding and features. (Presser here, INTA Bulletin announcement here.) I like the overall design of the website itself. If you ignore the flipping blocks (which can be difficult), the site has a fairly clean and simple appearance. … Continue Reading
It’s Official, Duets Marks Federally Registered
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksLest you missed the prior (absence of) fanfare from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), we thought you should know (now you have not only constructive notice, but actual notice and knowledge of these valuable and important rights) that we are the proud parents (for those of you who personalize your company’s or client’s trademarks as… Continue Reading
Questionable Sports Team Name Truncations?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Squirrelly Thoughts, Television, TrademarksI suppose these questions and remarks may be perceived by some as rubbing salt in the wound, particularly fans of Vanderbilt University Men’s Basketball, and especially following Vandy’s buzzer-beater loss to Murray State in the opening round of NCAA tournament play. So sorry, but my boys are glued to the television, computer, CBS and ESPN during March Madness… Continue Reading
News Flash: Dilbert on “Trademark Infringement Lawyers”
Posted in Infringement, Law Suits, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksClients and friends have enjoyed passing yesterday’s Dilbert cartoon on to me, just for fun (I think). So, for those of you who weren’t sure we could take not only a lawyer joke, but a "trademark infringement lawyer" joke, read on: Having said that, I think we already demonstrated our ability to self-deprecate with the best… Continue Reading
The Power of Exponents in Branding: DuetsBlog Serves Over 10,000 Unique Visitors
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Marketing, Squirrelly Thoughts, TrademarksOur celebration at DuetsBlog earlier this month on passing the 10,000 unique visitor milestone in four-short months online got us thinking about Big Mac and about the iconic McDonald’s Golden Arches signage, touting and counting how many McDonald’s hamburgers have been sold or served at any given point in time. We began to wonder,… Continue Reading
The Real Housewife Needs To Pay Attention To Branding
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Squirrelly ThoughtsAs I was thinking about what to blog about, I had my guilty pleasure “The Real Housewives of New York” on television in the background. One of the real housewives, Ramona, was bored and so she had developed a skin care line. I have no idea if the products are any good, but I agree with her… Continue Reading
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...
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...
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...
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...
Martha Engel
Although my interest in gadgetry and my aptitude for math eventually led me to become an engineer, my ad executive father and artistically gifted mother fostered an appreciation for the creative from a young age. More...
Anjali Shankar
When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved writing short stories. Creativity and imagination seem to come naturally to people when they are young. More...
Timothy Sitzmann
I have always considered myself to be a creative person. Full disclosure: I'm not claiming that I've created anything good, merely that I have created things that exist.More...
Cathleen Dahl
Trademarks and I met through a small job advertisement in the back of a local newspaper, and little did I know that I would spend the next 18 years (and counting) deriving a living from their existence and importance. More...