Duets Blog : Creativity and the Law: DuetsBlog

Worries about having a white Christmas in Minneapolis and elsewhere have been quiet this year. Thus far, we have spent far more than our typical time shoveling some especially heavy wet snow this holiday season, but don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.

I do have snow on my mind, however, because each time I think we might be done shoveling, we look out the window and there is more to tackle. So, with each trip outside over the last couple of days, I'm feeling less and less like the ambitious viking dude shown above. 

Who is he anyway?

Might the artwork be a promotion for the Minnesota Vikings and their foreshadowing of the Super Bowl spoils they hope to bring home during the 2009 football post season?

Might it be some action artwork featuring a well-known entertainer and educator known as Ragnar, a/k/a Joseph Juranitch?

(For a clever ESPN Sports Center commercial featuring Ragnar and Adrian Peterson, enjoy here).

Nope, the entire image is a non-verbal non-traditional federally-registered service mark, covering the "transportation of goods by ground transportation," and it apparently is owned by a gentleman named Eduardo Gonzalez, doing business as Freezman Transport, based in, of all places, La Jolla, California:

So, here's an interesting question to ponder over the holidays, can a non-verbal service mark be refused registration as primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive? Here's the three part test: (1) The primary significance of the mark is a generally known geographic location; (2) the consuming public is likely to believe the place identified by the mark indicates the origin of the goods or services when, in fact, they do not come from that place; and (3) the misrepresentation was a material factor in the consumer's decision.

Know of any non-verbal marks that meet this test? If so, they are unregistrable even if acquired distinctiveness can be shown, since no secondary meaning or Section 2(f) evidence will save such a barred mark under Section 2(e)(3) of the Lanham Act.

A while back, John Welch over at the TTABlog discussed some interesting applications of the test for primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive marks (albeit with some verbal mark examples), here and here.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Viking fans will recall the famous Purple People Eaters from the late 1960s through the late 1970s. The nickname arose for the defensive line of the Vikings from their purple jerseys and the popular Sheb Wooley song bearing that name. Although they went to four Super Bowls (unfortunately, not taking home a Super Bowl ring), the Purple People Eaters did not receive the astronomical, multi-million dollar, contracts received by the Pro Bowl players today. Accordingly, the retired players rely upon the use of their names, images, and likenesses on paraphernalia, sports bars, and other businesses to make money.

To protect their valuable trademarks in their names, images and likenesses, Purple People Eater Jim Marshall, along with five other retired National Football League (“NFL”) players, filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL to recover for their injuries as a result of the NFL’s unauthorized use of their identities to promote the NFL, sell NFL-related products and otherwise generate revenue for the NFL.  They have brought claims for false endorsement under the Lanham Act and various state law claims. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Their Amended Complaint alleges that “by commercializing the names, images and likenesses of its players, both active and retired, the NFL has become one of the largest entertainment conglomerates on the planet, raking in an estimated $6.9 billion in 2008 alone.” In contrast, the “now-retired NFL players, as a group, suffer severe physical maladies and disabilities as a result of the sacrifices they made to make the NFL what it is today.”  One example identified in the Amended Complaint was that safety Toby Wright sought to use his name, likeness and identity as an NFL player to promote two businesses, one a sports bar and the other a training facility. In response, the NFL informed him that he would have to pay the NFL $100,000 to use his own identity. Because he did not have the funds, the safety was effectively “blocked” from using his own identity. 

Only time will tell if Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, who is also a Purple People Eater, will join the class action and whether the Purple People Eater Jim Marshall and the other retired players can beat the NFL off the football field.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link