August 12, 2010
The Naked Cowboy Drags The Naked Cowgirl To Court
Although this happened a few weeks back, I still get a kick out of this story, and I’ve been hearing more and more about it. The Naked Cowboy (Robert Burck) has sued The Naked Cowgirl (Sandy Kane) for allegedly infringing on his trademark. I am not too sure what his trademark is, but I suppose it is a nearly naked person strumming a guitar in the middle of a major metropolitan area and generating revenue by getting television coverage on the likes of The Today Show. Before you ask, the answer is no. I don’t get it! A lot of you ladies out there might get it, but not me.
It sure is cold out here....shrinkage???
The Naked Cowboy earned his fame by walking around New York City in nothing but his cowboy boots, cowboy hat and a pair of draws while strumming his guitar and, in the process, entertaining New Yorkers. He’s not a bad looking man, and he has a body that is ever so slightly nicer than mine (insert fat joke here) so naturally, he was able to make some money off of his bit. As the saying goes, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. I’ll stick to writing these articles. I’ll leave the naked lawyering to someone else.
I don't see why they can't co-exist!
I did a quick bit of research and I did not find a registered trademark for “The Naked Cowboy.” I am truly wondering what the cause of action is here. Mr. Naked Cowboy is likely asserting common law trademark causes of action, and it attempting to stop someone else from profiting from his unique act. At this point, it will be up to a court to decide whether or not trademark protection can be afforded for his act.
July 23, 2010
OZZY OSBOURNE AND TONY IOMMI SETTLE THEIR TRADEMARK DISPUTE OVER THE BLACK SABBATH NAME
The lawsuit between Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi over the Black Sabbath trademark has been “amicably resolved” (source). Ozzy filed a lawsuit in May of 2009 after finding out that Iommi filed a trademark application for “Black Sabbath” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The lawsuit claimed that Iommi illegally took sole ownership of the trademark when he filed the application with the USPTO. The relief sought in the complaint for a 50 percent interest in the trademark, along with a portion of the profits that Iommi may have realized from use of the trademark. Ozzy claimed that it was his vocals that gave the band it’s extraordinary success. I’d bet that’s the same case for “The Osbournes,” the MTV reality show.
Black Sabbath is an English band formed by Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in 1968. The band went through many iterations, but the one constant throughout the years was Iommi. Ozzy left the band in 1979. The original lineup reunited in 1997 and released one album.
Don't we all own the trademark???
This case was kind of interesting to me because it seemed to be a trademark dispute between two guys (Iommi and Ozzy) over a trademark that many people could probably claim an ownership interest in. From what I can see, there were more than 20 members of Black Sabbath over the years. It seems to me that many of those members, or their estates, could be entitled to some of the profits that are derived from the “Black Sabbath” trademark. Without question, Iommi and Ozzy are the most popular members of that band, and probably did lead to most of its success, but this case had every potential to get ugly quick. I am sure that this came up in the settlement discussions, i.e., some attorneys probably sat around a table and advised the two that if the case got dragged out, they should not be surprised if several other members of the Band came out of the woodwork to claim their piece of the pie.
Iommi is welcome to join our family anytime!
Appraently, the possiblity of yet another reunion has not been ruled out. It is a crying shame that “The Osbournes” reality show is not still around. Theycould have had entire episodes based solely on this lawsuit. The ratings would have been through the roof. Wishful thinking!
April 5, 2010
I don’t want to share my Legos!
We here at TacticalIP like to monitor intellectual property news and try to report it to you. You may have noticed that we pride ourselves on pointing out improper enforcement actions taken by trademark owners. For example, we have previously posted a feature called IP Bully Of The Month. (see here and here).
As I was reading through some intellectual property news that I normally watch, I came across a story that I thought I would share. While this doesn’t top my list of overzealous trademark owners trying to enforce rights that they don’t really have, I felt it deserved a mention. Turns out that The Lego Group (yes – the same company that makes the toys we all played with as kids and the toys that I step on in the middle of the night in my house now) has decided to sue Project LEGOS, a community outreach program started by two University of Minnesota alums. The “LEGOS” in Project LEGOS stands for “Leadership, Empowerment, Growth, Opportunity, Sustainability.”
February 2, 2010
Who Dat Say They Gonna Sue for Trademark Infringement? Da NFL – Dat Who!
Normally, most people out there know that the NFL gets their panties in a knot if you were to use any of their trademarks. For example, the NFL owns all the names and logos associated with each of the teams, as well as the name for that season ending football game that occurs on a Sunday – I didn’t want to write “Super Bowl” for fear of being sued by the NFL! Everyone who’s anyone knows that “The Big Game” is going to happen in a couple of weeks from now and that it is going to be between the New Orleans Saints and the team that beat my beloved Jets (just out of spite, I’m not going to mention the name).
We all know what New Orleans went through in 2005. Katrina was a terrible tragedy and the one thing that kept that city going was The Saints. I never really followed The Saints, but since they did so great this year, I watched a couple of games. I always saw people in the stands with signs on it that read “WHO DAT” and I would hear the likes of Drew Brees rally his team by chanting WHO DAT! I had no idea what it meant. I did some digging and asked some folks about it. I used to work with someone that I consider to be the biggest Saints fan ever. Apparently, there is a little war chant that they have in New Orleans – “Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints.” That’s a great chant and very original. In my opinion, it belongs to the people of New Orleans… not the NFL. I’m glad that The Saints have made it to the Super Bowl. New Orleans and its great citizens need this.
December 31, 2009
Michael Jordan Sues Grocery Stores for Trademark Infringement… After They Congratulate Him!
You may have already heard about the latest trademark infringement case, where Michael Jordan (yes, that Michael Jordan) has sued two grocery store chains, Jewel-Osco and Dominick’s for trademark infringement, after the stores ran full page ads in a Sports Illustrated issue dedicated to the accomplishments of Jordan. This comes on the heels of Jordan’s ridiculous Hall of Fame induction speech, in which he just ranted about how great he is. Michael – can you get more arrogant? Who is advising you? Please fire them and get someone else – I think you can afford it!
“Hmmm… I wonder if my attorney has read New Kids on the Block v. News America or ETW v. Jireh“
For those of you who like your information straight from the source and unfiltered, you can find Mr. Jordan’s complaints here and here.
At the end of the day, Jordan probably has a case. He owns a trademark on his name, and has probably gone to great lengths to protect his trademarks. Clearly, the Jordan brand is quite valuable. In my humble opinion, however, I do not think that every possible trademark infringement case needs to be prosecuted. There is such a thing as bad publicity.
December 4, 2009
New IP Bully Award Nominees
by Philip Zies
Major League Baseball – for opposing two applications filed with the PTO by Mattingly Hitting Products, Inc., Don Mattingly’s sporting equipment and apparel company, to register a logo (pictured below). MLB alleges a likelihood of confusion with its “Silhouetted Batter Logo” (source)
Are you likely to be confused?
Global Findability – for suing Summit Entertainment, the producers of the sci-fi flick, Knowing
Nic Cage, fretting over impending patent litigation
As always, feel free to sound off in the comments about your favorite IP Bully, or email us at tacticalip@gmail.com.
October 28, 2009
SNCF vs. Danish Food Stall Lady
by Philip Zies
Our latest IP Bully Award nomination comes from across the pond.
SNCF, the French train company that runs the famous train line known as the Orient-Express, forced a Danish woman who sold spicy food from a stall at music festivals under the trademark ORIENTEXPRESSEN to change the name of her business. The Danish Supreme Court affirmed the lower tribunal’s decision that the “catering services” offered from the food stall were too similar in kind to the “hotel services” offered by the train company. She sure got railroaded. (source)
If you have any IP Bully Award nominations for us to review, you can write them in the comments to this or any other post. Alternatively, you can email us at tacticalip@gmail.com.
October 23, 2009
Update on “IP Bully of the Month” Award Nominee
by Philip Zies
Last week, TacticalIP.com nominated Hansen Beverage Co., the maker of "Monster" energy drinks, for the "IP Bully of the Month" award for demanding that Vermont beer maker Rock Art Brewery, brewer of "Vermonster" beer, rename its fermented non-energy beverage. Well, as it turns out, maybe Hansen isn’t such a bully after all. It seems that Hansen CEO, Rodney Stacks, and Rock Art founder, Matt Nadeu, were able to work out their differences by talking to each other directly. Rock Art has agreed to avoid adding high energy drinks to its line and Hansen has agreed to back down on its renaming demands (source). Nice compromise, boys!
October 19, 2009
Latest “IP Bully” Award Nominations
October 14, 2009
Announcing the “IP Bully of the Month” Award
by Philip Zies
Due to the overwhelming popularity of our "IP Bully of the Week" award, or perhaps because of the prevalence of perceived IP Bullies, TacticalIP.com is rebranding its award as our "IP Bully of the Month" award and offers the following candidates for consideration, in addition to the award winner announced October 7, 2009:
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Big Boy Restaurants International, LLC — for demanding that a 14 foot big-boy-on-a-pole be removed from a memorial in Charlston, South Carolina. The memorial was created in honor of the original 1947 Shoney’s Restaurant, belonging to that chain’s founder, Alex Schoenbaum. At one point, Big Boy and Shoney’s were merged, but Shoney’s later split off again. (source)
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World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. — for demanding that the The Wine School of Philadelphia stop using the name "Sommelier Smackdown" for the food and wine pairing competitions that it has held since 2007. (source)
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Hansen Beverage Co. (maker of Monster energy drinks) — for demanding that Rock Art Brewery, in Morrisville, Vermont, rename its beer, which is now known as "The Vermonster". (source)
Stay tuned for more nominees, and we may actually pick a winner at some point. Sound off in the comments with your favorite, or if you’ve got a nominee of your own.
