The Biggest Pop Culture Trademark Blunders

BIGGEST THE Pop Culture TRADEMARK- BLUNDERS PRELIMINARY TRADEMARK REFUSAL PUBLIC DOMAIN INFRINGEMENT [pri-lim-uh-ner-ee] [ri-fyoo-zuhl] [treyd-mahrk) [in-frinj-muhnt] [puhb-lik] [doh-meyn] When intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited or are inapplicable and return to the public. When the Trademark The main elements are when somebody uses a trademark that's confusingly similar to someone Examiner issues notice of initial rejection of a trademark application. else's trademark. • DEFINITION OF A TRADEMARK AND ITS USES A trademark CONSTITUTES A RECOGNIZABLE BRAND NAME HOLA! Distinguishes one seller or product from another Can be owned by an individual, a Can be any symbol, name, word, logo or device corporation, any legal entity or a business 222222 139,832 trademarks were abandoned by their 222222 211122 owners IN 2011 the United States recorded the United States Patent and Trademark Office over 300,000 newly filed trademark applications TN ZIULL to date: 1,838,007 active registered trademarks recorded the highest level of active trademarks FOUR STRENGTH CATEGORIES OF US TRADEMARK ARBITRARY AND FANCIFUL MAXIMUM PROTECTION SUGGESTIVE MEDIUM PROTECTION DESCRIPTIVE WEAK PROTECTION GENERIC NO PROTECTION USES OF A TRADEMARK CAN BE DEMONSTRATED IN THREE POSSIBLE WAYS TM is used for unregistered trademarks; promotes brands or goods Distinguish a brand name from competitors Help consumers to identify products and/or services designates an unregistered brand or service SM is used for registered trademarks Promotes Provides protection against trademark infringement desirability HISTORY OF TRADEMARKS TARZAN OF THE APES EXCELSIOR bơ First application First registered trademark Beginning of media mérchandising Averill Chemical Paint Company for their design with an eagle, a ribbon and the words “Economical, Brilliant" (Filed August 30, 1870) Edward Rice Burroughs trademarked his original character of Tarzan (1923) J.J. Turner & Co., for the mark "EXCELSIOR No. 1 Peruvian Guano", for their brand of fertilizer (Filed July 28, 1870) CELEBRITIES AND THEIR TRADEMARKS JERSEY SHORE CAST Stars of the reality TV show, Jersey Shore have encountered problems when attempting to trademark their nicknames on multiple occasions Snooki In 2010, Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's trademark attempt was preliminarily rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for being too similar to "Adventures of Snooky", a series of children's books. Her trademark was subsequently approved after the reference to "books" was removed. The Situation Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino also encountered problems in his trademark attempt because his nickname was deemed to be too similar to that of a retail clothing and footwear store owned by Yak Shoes JWoww Jennifer Farley was successful in trademarking her nickname of "JWoww" simply because no one else has used the name BEYONCÉ AND JAY-Z have attempted to trademark their baby's name The couple filed to trademark "Blue Ivy Carter" on January 26th, 2012 At the time, the child was only 3 weeks old The name is apparently being reserved for merchandising their own line of baby accessories Beyoncė The trademark for "Blue Ivy" had previously been awarded to a wedding planning company Jay-9 CHARLIE SHEEN In 2011, Charlie Sheen attempted to trademark more than 20 different catchphrases, including: TIGER BLOOD DUH, WINNING VIOLENT TORPEDO SHEEN'S GODDESSES OF TRUTH Charlie Sheen JEREMY LIN New York Knicks basketball player, Jeremy Lin, attempted to trademark the phrase "Linsanity" Before Lin was able to apply for his trademark, "Linsanity" had already been applied-for by two other people Jeremy Lin DONALD TRUMP failed to trademark his famous line of "You're fired" In 2004, after the success of his reality show The Apprentice, Trump began legal proceedings YOU'RE FIRED! The phrase was initially denied by the Trademark Office because it was deemed too similar to "You're Hired", which was already registered for an educational board game Eventually, the production company for The Apprentice was able to trademark the phrase for use in merchandising such as coffee mugs, toys and clothing Donald Trump PARIS HILTON owns "That's hot" In 2007, she sued a major corporation for trademark infringement THAT'S HOT.. Hallmark Cards used both the catchphrase and Hilton's image in a greeting card Paris Hilton Although she settled for an undisclosed sum, it is reported that Hilton was seeking at least $500,000 in damages • THE FAILURES OF BIG BRAND NAMES DISNEY CONCEDES USAGE OF "SEAL TEAM 6" WITHDRAWN In 2011, 2 days after the Navy Seal Team 6 had succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden, Disney attempted to register the use of their name "Seal Team 6" was to be incorporated into their merchandising of toys and games Disney eventually deferred their trademarking attempt to the Navy, and withdrew their trademark applications. DISNEY TRIED TO TRADEMARK THE NAME OF A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN MAY OF 2013 DDM, DROPPED DDM Ultimately, Disney dropped their "Dia de los Disney's attempt to Feeling that a cultural Muertos" is claim the name as their celebration cannot be celebrated as own was motivated by their desire to produce a film with the name trademarked, there claim and decided "Day of the Dead" by millions of people in Mexico was substantial backlash across social media pages like that any future movie would and to launch a range likely bear an of merchandise Facebook and Twitter alternative title HARLEY DAVIDSON TRIED TO TRADEMARK THE SOUND OF THEIR ENGINE SMOTOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON EYCLES In 1995, the makers of the motorcycle The claim was ultimately Harley eventually dropped the case in 2000 claimed that both the look of their unsuccessful after other product and the sound that it makes are what draw customers manufacturers argued that their engines all made the exact same noise SOURCES O SecureYour Trademark.com www.uspto.gov/trademarks/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_trademark_law trademarkstatistics.com/ www.businessinsider.com/15-ridiculous-trademarking-attempts-2011-4?op=1 www.businessinsider.com/snooki-tries-to-trademark-her-name-and-loses-to-a-cat-2010-8 www.divinecaroline.com/entertainment/that%E2%80%99s-mine-odd-attempted-celebrity-trademarks www.hollywood.com/news/celebrities/16499650/beyonce-and-jay-z-attempt-to-trademark-baby-blue-ivy-s-name?page=all www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2221416/Beyonc-Jay-Z-lose-battle-trademark-baby-daughter-Blue-lvy-small-wedding-planner-business.html www.celebuzz.com/photos/celebs-whove-tried-to-trademark-their-own-catchphrases/ xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-celebtrademarks/6/ www.celebitchy.com/118998/paris_hilton_settles_with_hallmark_over_card_with_her_image_and_thats_hot_phrase/ online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576345752703592770.html www.nytimes.com/1995/10/08/us/harley-davidson-wants-to-register-a-roar.html thecontributor.com/religion/disney-triend-and-failed-trademark-latino-holiday news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4984138.stm