There is a battle brewing over songs by Minnesota’s own Prince. I, for one, am anxious for the dispute to be resolved so we can enjoy these recordings. Who knows, there may be another worldwide hit “Purple Rain” out there.
The initial lawsuit was brought by Prince’s company Paisley Park Enterprises, which is now owned
Earlier this month, a California federal judge kept alive a suit brought by the estate of famous jazz musician Thelonious Monk against North Coast Brewing Co. for trademark infringement and infringement of the right of publicity. The dispute centers around North Coast’s popular “Brother Thelonious” Beligan-style abbey ale (beer seems to be on the mind
-Martha Engel, Attorney
Today’s offices treat acronyms like linguistic yoga (TOTALLY).
ICYMI, they’re popular also in texts, tweets, and other “thumb-talking” activities. LOL. SMH.
Legislators are having fun with them lately too, for example the Personal Rights in Names Can Endure Act (PRINCE Act), the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
-Martha Engel, Attorney
My home state of Minnesota prides itself primarily on three things: our ability to withstand our winters, our 10,000 lakes, and our dearly beloved Prince. While we take a beating when it comes to our sports teams, all of his purple life we had Prince. Just like you might do for your
-Martha Engel, Attorney
Emojis – those cute images you may find in a keyboard on your Android or iPhone device – have changed the way many people communicate thoughts, ideas, feelings and concepts. They can add a certain level of pizzazz to an otherwise ordinary text message, Facebook post, or tweet. And, if I may
We’ve spilled a fair amount of digital ink discussing the power of non-verbal logos, especially the few iconic ones that can truly stand alone as silhouettes and need no color or words to convey their unique singularity:
Although I fully recognize that my bias
A sense of humor and a little lack of respect: that’s what you need to make a legend survive.
–Karl Lagerfeld on his “winning formula”
Sometimes there is a news story that neatly weaves a bunch of DuetsBlog posts together like a Bottega Veneta shoe fabric design. Sometimes that story comes from hard-hitting
Perusing the New York Times last weekend, I came across an article entitled “Wu-Tang Clan Plans to Sell Just One Copy of a New Album.” Oh, so they are going to offer one download and watch it permeate the world virally?
Wrong, they literally mean one single copy. One beautifully boxed album. A holy
Minneapolis’ own hometown hero Prince Rogers Nelson, formerly and currently known simply as “Prince,” has been in the news quite often in 2013. It began with his surprise, limited ticket performances in January, which he followed up with a surprise concert to close out the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Prince has also made legal
As promised earlier this week, in my post entitled “Without Words, But Not Speechless: More On Non-Verbal Logos That Can Stand Alone,” here is my effort to identify, from a legal perspective, some of the pros and cons of non-verbal logos and other trademark styles.
But, before addressing the legal implications, it is worth noting that a number of our insightful readers and commenters already have helped articulate a variety of pros and cons from a business and marketing perspective, here. By my count, there appears to be consensus on at least two important points: (1) Having an iconic stand-alone non-verbal logo or wordless trademark symbol is highly desirable, especially for truly international brands; but (2) be prepared to spend a lot of time, effort, and significant resources to achieve one.
In addition, at least one designer has written that having a logo without words “can be a big branding pain,” for a variety of reasons. She identifies three basic logo styles: (1) Text logos; (2) symbol logos; and (3) combination logos. Examples of text logos would be the Coca-Cola script, the Yahoo! stylized word, and the Google stylized word, all three illustrated in my earlier post. The highly stylized Ebay logo is another good example of a text logo. On the other hand, the Shell logo, McDonald’s Golden Arches, and the Nike Swoosh, are all good examples of symbol logos. In addition, here is a message board collecting a number of other possible candidates for symbol logos that are capable of standing lone — without words — yet, they still have a lot to say to consumers. Many of them, in fact, were mentioned by commenters to my prior post.
Anyway, the designer referenced above contends that for a variety of reasons, combination logos often make the most sense. According to her, a combination logo “combines both a symbol and the company name. The symbol and text can be integrated together, side by side, or with one located above the other.”
Generally, from a trademark owner and legal perspective, I prefer the combination logo too, but not the “integrated” type, instead the “side by side” type or the “one above the other” type. The Mercedes-Benz combination logo shown below nicely illustrates the “one above the other” type of combination logo:
Why do I generally prefer this type of trademark logo format and style?Continue Reading Pros and Cons of Stand-Alone Non-Verbal Logos and Other Trademark Styles: A Legal Perspective