– Draeke Weseman, Weseman Law Office, PLLC
In 1984, Nike needed an NBA superstar. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wore Converse brand basketball shoes, as did most of the other major NBA stars. Adding to the pressure, Nike sales were in general decline as Reebok was dominating the broader fitness shoe market with its white
A little over a year ago, I pondered about whether anyone might be confused into believing Nike and Adidas had teamed up, given this shoe display:
After having spent a fair bit of time in various retail shoe stores with two of my boys over the weekend, I’m asking the same questions again, given
Knowing how Adidas (or should I say, adidas) jealously guards its three stripe design on shoes, and is notorious for protecting against not only three, but two and four stripe buffers as well, my eyes were drawn to this display of Nike Shox sport shoes at our local Finish Line retail store.
–Dan Kelly, Attorney
Late last month, Hershey Chocolate and Confectionary Corporation won an appeal at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to register the following as a configuration mark for use in connection with candy and chocolate:
The decision (opinion here) is straightforward and not precedential. It is somewhat interesting in that Hershey had
The Louboutin lacquered red sole trademark is the subject of great debate in the trademark world, fashion industry, popular news media, and among law school academics and friends of the court.
I’m just not seeing it. I really don’t see a viable trademark claim here for Louboutin. Not for the reasons
Just so you know, it about pushed me over the edge to have a blog post title with no capitalization. Not even one letter. In other words, all minuscules, no majuscules. It doesn’t seem right — to me anyway, as a trademark type.
Just like the first letter in the first word of a
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Last month there was some press about a pair of trademark infringement lawsuits between Adidas (sorry marketing types, I just can’t do the lower case letter "a" in "adidas") and Riedell over the number of stripes appearing on their sports footwear products.
You may recall, while we’re on the subject of stripes, that I
–Susan Perera, Attorney
As 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:
–Susan Perera, Attorney
The 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, give sponsoring companies the opportunity to get some major face-time with fans. Sponsorship grants category exclusivity to one brand, allowing them to hold-off their competitors from associating with that event.
So if you have a major advertising budget, the question becomes do you sponsor, or do you ambush?
Whenever there is a major sporting event like the World Cup ambush ads begin to appear, bringing to mind the current sporting event without actually mentioning the event itself (or showing any protectable marks or images related to that event). Most consumers are unaware they have been ambushed and the advertiser reaps the benefit of appearing to be a sponsor. Recent trends have moved towards higher protection of these major events; however, there is currently no legal recourse for a well-articulated ambush marketing campaign.
Nike, for example, has often chosen against sponsoring large sporting events, instead blazing the trail on how to execute an effective ambush marketing campaign. Nike has gotten away with its clever ads for years, but as discussed in my earlier post that isn’t the case for everyone who tries this method.
So, is this underhanded? Maybe. Is it creative? I’d have to say, yes.
Do you think the high price tag for sponsorships at the World Cup or Olympics justify greater legal protection? Does your answer depend on who’s sponsoring and who’s ambushing. What if it is two major companies like Coca-Cola (a FIFA Partner) and Pepsi (unaffiliated)?
Now, what about when FIFA Sponsor Budweiser is ambushed by 36 women in orange dresses promoting the Dutch beer Bavaria? Should small-budget companies be held-off from any and all advertising? What are your thoughts?
After the jump, take a look at the advertising campaigns of some of FIFA’s sponsors and come back tomorrow to see their ambushers’ advertisements.
When it comes to scope of rights and trademark enforcement, as a trademark type, it’s hard not to admire Adidas’ success in preventing the use of two, three, and four stripes, when its long-standing federally-registered design mark consists of three stripes.
At least in the U.S., Adidas appears to have gained