The New York Times has been following a trademark battle between Christy Prunier’s body and beauty care start-up business apparently geared toward preteen and teenage girls (Willagirl LLC) and industry giant Procter & Gamble, owner of the well-known, if not famous, more than century old WELLA hair care brand, with U.S. trademark rights dating back
While it is true that not responding to a trademark cease and desist letter is always an available option, I tend to believe it is rarely a good choice. The strategy of silence seldom makes the issue go away, it often ends up costing the recipient more money to resolve the issue, and it is
Best Buy was the subject of some intense criticism at the end of last week when Chris Morran of The Consumerist Blog and Mike Masnick of the Techdirt Blog took Best Buy to task and Mike went so far as to label Best Buy a “trademark bully” for sending a cease and desist letter to
In the midst of all our discussion about “trademark bullying,” I couldn’t resist picking up this “No Bull” postcard from Manny’s Steakhouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
You may recall Dan previously wrote about Manny’s promoting similar images with the phrase “One Helluva Sac Lunch”. Dan also noted the irony of the best beef coming
Happy Mother’s Day! So, it’s time again to talk a little fishing billboard branding, I guess.
We have enjoyed discussing Rapala billboard ads over the last couple of years, the “attracting cats” billboard, the “More hits than Google” billboard, the “Whudjagiddumon” billboard, and now the “Do you believe in
Eric Goldman over at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog has some harsh words for the recent Report to Congress on Trademark Litigation Tactics.
He calls the report “worthless”, a “complete whiff”, “useless”, and a waste of tax dollars.
In addition, David Pardue over at the Trade Secrets and IP Today blog calls it
Hat tip to Jack Clifford for providing a copy of the USPTO’s April 27, 2011 Report to Congress, pdf is here.
I’ll be certain to circle back with you for another good “trademark bullying” discussion after digesting it.
In the wake of all the discussion and debate over “trademark bullying,” NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses), the self-proclaimed Voice of Small Business, recently offered its members and followers “5 Steps to Avoid Corporate Trademark Bullying“:
“Trademark law is a complex, specialized area of law,” according to the International Trademark Association (INTA), as set forth in a recent communication to the USPTO.
So, I must ask, does substantial experience or the lack of substantial experience in handling trademark matters impact the current trademark bullying debate? And, if so, how?
Here
There is another excellent webinar coming next week on April 6, dealing with the very hot topic of trademark bullying.
This one is provided by Strafford Publications, and the details are here.
Thanks to John Welch for his post on the program too.
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