Back in 2014, Great Harvest Bread Company trademarked what it thought was a neat slogan: “Bread. The Way it Ought to Be.” So when fellow baked goods peddler Panera Bread introduced its slogan, “Food as it should be” in 2015, that hit a little too close to home for Great Harvest. [More]
trademark infringement
Burberry Sues JCPenney Over Coats In Familiar-Looking Plaid
By 2.9.16
Do you recognize Burberry’s distinctive plaid on sight? The British company assumes that most clothing shoppers do, and has filed a lawsuit against JCPenney for using a similar plaid in scarves and coats that it has sold recently. [More]
Supreme Court: Yes, You Need Permission To Sell T-Shirts Featuring Bob Marley’s Face
By 11.2.15
When it comes to famous faces, not just anyone can cash in and use those well-known likenesses for their own financial gain. That’s why the highest court in the land has turned down an appeal from clothing companies that wanted to peddle T-shirts bearing the image of reggae legend Bob Marley. [More]
Pinterest Doesn’t Own Exclusive On “Pinning” Things Online
By 10.23.15
Ages before there was an Internet, and certainly long before Pinterest ever came onto the scene, folks were pinning things — to bulletin boards, to computer dashboards and docks. But the folks at Pinterest believe they have an exclusive trademark of the online use of phrases like “pin it.” Unfortunately for them, a federal judge disagrees. [More]
Beyoncé, Jay Z, Others Claim Retailer Is Selling Products Bearing Their Likenesses Without Permission
By 10.8.15
When you’re as famous as Beyoncé, Jay Z, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams or Rihanna, your face is literally your fortune — and fans are most definitely willing to pay to get a piece of their favorite artists. That’s why those musicians are jointly suing a Paris clothing company, alleging that it’s been peddling products using their likenesses without having the right to do so. [More]
Court Says The Batmobile Is Special Enough To Get Copyright Protection
By 9.23.15
When someone mentions the Batmobile, do you pause and say, “Hold on — which Batmobile? Batman’s car or just like another car that’s shaped like a bat, has crime-fighting technology and ferries around a caped crusader?” Probably not, because everyone knows what the Batmobile is and who it belongs to. That entitles it to copyright protection, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said on Wednesday, affirming a district court’s judgment in a copyright and trademark infringement action brought by DC Comics against a maker of Batmobile replicas. [More]
Burger King Tried To Block Trademark Application For 1,200-Year-Old Gospel Manuscript
By 8.11.15
While Burger King might be technically older than McDonald’s Corp., it’s certainly not older than the Book of Kells, a 9th Century illuminated manuscript of the New Testament Gospels. But when Trinity College Dublin tried to trademark the Book of Kells name and related “BK merchandise,” Burger King’s legal eagles objected, claiming it would infringe on the fast-food giant’s marks. [More]
Company Behind Fruit Stripe Gum Suing E-Cig Company Over Vape Flavor
By 7.13.15
If you’re the kind of person who favors fruity flavors in your e-cigarette, hey, that’s your choice. But Ferrara Candy doesn’t to be tied to any flavor of vape liquid, and is suing an online e-cig company claiming it infringed on its trademark for Fruit Stripe gum with one of its offerings. [More]
IMAX Demands Website Retract Story That Has Virtually Nothing To Do With IMAX
By 6.19.15
The folks at IMAX need to learn when to take a compliment. When someone name-drops your brand as an aspirational standard, you should smile and appreciate the respect. What you shouldn’t do is demand that a news website retract an entire story just because someone mentions your brand. [More]
Walmart Is Now The Rightful Owner Of Walmart.Horse
By 5.19.15
You’ll have to excuse us if we’re not in the greatest spirits today, as we’re in mourning for the loss of Walmart.horse, the nonsense website that Walmart spent actual time and money to shut down and acquire. [More]
Katy Perry’s Attempt To Claim A Trademark On “Left Shark” Design Fails Like A Left Shark
By 4.22.15
The “Left Shark” phenomenon that overtook the world after Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show has long since exited the cultural dialog, and yet the battle rages on over whether or not the pop star can claim a trademark on the uncoordinated, anthropomorphic fish. [More]
Court Throws Out NJ Turnpike’s Lawsuit Against Pizzeria With Lookalike Logo
By 3.27.15
Last summer, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority sued the small Florida-based Jersey Boardwalk pizzeria chain over the restaurant’s logo, which looks remarkably similar to that of the Garden State Parkway. Earlier this week, a federal court in New Jersey dismissed the suit saying that the pizza chain didn’t have enough contact with the state to allow for the Turnpike Authority to file a lawsuit there. [More]
Walmart Displeased With Walmart.Horse, Wants It Taken Down
By 3.9.15
If you’re looking for the Walmart website, your instinct would be to simply go to Walmart.com, or maybe Walmart.net, or even Walmart.org… all of which go to the same place. There is currently no reason whatsoever to type the URL Walmart.horse into your web browser, but if you go there, you get pretty much exactly what you’d expect — a picture of a horse and a Walmart store. [More]
Macy’s Tries Again To Win Back Trademarks From Man Who Resurrected Astro Pops And Hydrox
By 2.26.15
When Macy’s Inc. swallowed up a slew of department stores across the land — from Marshall Field’s to Filene’s, Abraham & Straus to Jordan Marsh — it rebranded many of them, turning the formerly regional chains into Macy’s stores. But in a new lawsuit brought by the company that echoes a suit from 2011 that was slated to come to trial soon, Macy’s says the California company behind the resurrection of Hydrox and Astro Pops is infringing on trademarks it held for many of those recognizable brand names. [More]
Red Bull Tries To Block Brewer From Trademarking “Old Ox” Because They Are Both Bovines
By 2.9.15
Whether it’s the pizzeria logo that resembles the Garden State Parkway sign, two beers battling over the use of the same three letters, or a bunch of marijuana edibles with humorous takes on famous chocolate brands, even the silliest trademark disputes are usually based in the argument that maybe someone out there might possibly confuse the products. But the folks at Red Bull have a problem with a Virginia brewer who wants to trademark the name “Old Ox” simply because the two brands are bovine in nature. [More]
Lagunitas To Drop Trademark Suit Against Sierra Nevada After Twitter Backlash
By 1.14.15
Just two days after Northern California-based Lagunitas Brewing Company filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against fellow craft brewer Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the company’s founder announced he would drop the case following backlash from a court of a different kind: that of public opinion. [More]
Chubby Checker, HP Reach Settlement Over Penis-Measuring App
By 7.25.14
It’s been more than a year since a dispute between singer Chubby Checker and Hewlitt-Packard over a penis-measuring app plunged this country into darkness, dividing households, pitting brother against brother, leaving deep scars from which we may never heal — but which will always stand as a reminder of an era we’d all like to forget. Finally, the two parties have put aside their differences for the sake of generations to come, and reached a settlement. [More]
NJ Turnpike Authority Sues Florida Pizza Chain Over Lookalike Logo
By 7.24.14
We don’t know why any restaurant owners would want to associate their food with a stretch of ugly highway that cuts a massive concrete and asphalt path from one end of New Jersey to the other, but that’s what the operators of a small pizza chain in Florida did when crafting a logo that looks a lot like the one for the Garden State Parkway. Fearing that people might somehow think it’s gotten into the pizza business, the NJ Turnpike Authority has sued the pizza chain in federal court. [More]
