Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with trademark

Technical/legal questions about a site that will parody a trademarked brand

Riki tiki — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:59:14 -0800

I'm thinking of creating a political parody website that may step on some toes and/or trademarks. I have a few technical and legal questions about how best to go about this. So I had an idea for lambasting a prominent political party in the United States. I was shocked to find that a really obvious domain name for that party was available, but it may infringe upon a trademark for that party.

I know YANAL and YANML, but a little guidance as to the prudent first steps here would be appreciated. I would assume (but correct me if I'm wrong) that free-speech protections of satire and parody may protect me from some of the trademark issues. But I also sense that those lines may become fuzzier if I ever appear to draw a profit from the site. Is there anything I can do to reasonably ensure that my site is on firm legal ground without the cost of consulting an actual attorney?

On more of a technical level, does anyone know of a good hosting company that could be relied upon to keep the site running even if they got big scary letters on legal stationery from that political party?

This idea is still in the brainstorming stages, so I'm probably imagining a bigger future for it than will realistically happen... but I'd rather be overprepared than underprepared.

Tag THIS.

Sully — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:04:48 -0800

There's this grafitti tagger here in town who scrawls his name everywhere in big black magic marker. On the sides of mailboxes, on walls, on doors. Thing is, it's a nice design and he's got a catchy name. I was thinking the other day that if I started a clothing line, I would like to use his tag as my trademark logo. Chances are, he hasn't trademarked his tag. If I decided to trademark it myself, then deployed it as the name of my clothing line, as well as use his scrawl on the backs of the hoodies I sold - legally, would he have any recourse?

We want shirts, but don't want to infringe on any trademarks or copyrights.

IndigoRain — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:07:03 -0800

I run a website dedicated to vintage PC games (that is, games from the late 80s, early 90s). Ad revenue has been declining, and a co-admin suggested making t-shirts to sell to support the site. I have questions about what art/words we can use on the shirts. Obviously we can't use actual screenshots or art from the games or boxes. We'd also stay away from using the company's logos and the names of the games, assuming that those are also trademarked.

1. Can we use the game's character's names as a t-shirt slogan? (e.g. "Long live King Bob!") What about the names of the fictional lands within the games? (e.g. "I went to the Land of the Purple Isles and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!")

2. My website domain name contains the name of the company who created these vintage games. It's still okay to use my domain name on the shirts, isn't it?

3. Can we use fan-art on the t-shirts that depict the characters or scenes from the games? How different does the fan-art have to be from the actual art from the game?

4. Can we use any quotes from the games?

Trademark

allelopath — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:59:58 -0800

Trademark issues I know YANAL, but I'm just fishing for some general information. I will likely hire an attorney at some point.

We have a new product, let's call it MyGizmo.

We intend to trademark "MyGizmo" (in the US). It appears to be available after a search on the USPTO site. So, given that we do that:

1. We have the domain name MyGizmo.net (MyGizmo.com was not available, someone is just sitting on it, no pun intended). Should we trademark "MyGizmo.net" and even "MyGizmo.com"

2. Ignoring patent issues, could someone trademark something like "My-Gizmo" and start manufactuing a similar product?

Can I use the Time Management Matrix in my software?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:07:18 -0800

Can I use the "Time Management Matrix" in a commercial software product without any legal repercussions? (If you're not familiar with the Time Management Matrix, you can find a good primer here.)

My understanding is that the Matrix was popularized by Stephen Covey's book First Things First, and was later featured in some of his other books. Since then it has been widely used in motivational and leadership books and seminars. There are dozens of articles and pages about it online. It very likely existed in other forms, at least in concept, before Covey wrote about it.

I am interested in including a visual representation, description, and interactive version of this Matrix in a piece of commercial software I am writing. Without giving away too much of the application's functionality, essentially a user will be able to click one of the quadrants of the Matrix to assign a task to it, view a list of tasks sorted by quadrant, etc. The software would also include a brief description of the Matrix and its quadrants, with no direct quotations from Covey's book or any other sources. In fact, I don't plan on mentioning Covey at all (unless I must for attribution) in order to avoid any implications of endorsement.

Would I run into any legal issues if I do this? I can't find any solid evidence on whether Covey invented the concept or the term, so that's the first thing I need to find out. After that, I need to know what I can do if he does have some claim of ownership to it.

Usernames, trademarks, and Facebook. Help!

krisken — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:57:26 -0800

Usernames, trademarks, and Facebook. Someone e-mailed my friend, saying that he owned the trademark to his name and has the right to demand that he turn over his username to him. He appears to be a wannabe French pop star, and his MySpace music site is here.

Here is the message:

"Hi,
We're sorry to contact you for this subject. But, we're the owner of the (NAME) trademark and we have the rights to demand everypeople using (NAME) trademark not to use it even in Facebook. to develop the singer (NAME) we need to set up a officiel facebook and we'd like to use now the www.facebook.com/name We will be most grateful if you can change your login and password to communique it to us to get the facebook address back to us. it will be better and we will not need to contact facebook directly. if you don't ask to us, we will contact facebook to defend our rights. thank you for your understanding. don't hesitate to contact us for any questions. best regards, (NAME) productions."

Um, can they actually do this? I know nothing about international trademark laws or Facebook Terms of Service on this topic, but it seems cruel that my friend would have to give up his username to a guy who only has 5000 hits on his MySpace and sings "i dream of laying my love in you."

Thanks for your help.

Am I infringing on a trademark?

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:30:28 -0800

Am I infringing on a trademark? Someone just contacted me letting me know, informally, that a phrase I'm using in my new blog's tagline has been trademarked by them "for use on the Web, books, pamphlets, and online stores." They have asked me (nicely) to please not use it.

I've checked, and there is indeed a record of the trademark registration. The thing is, we are in two different countries, though our sites use the same language (English.) I'm skeptical of whether or not my use (as a tagline for a blog from which I am currently not making any money, not capitalized, and not the main title of any product or service) actually infringes on their trademark.

I don't want to be rude to the person. If the trademark applies to me, I'll definitely change the phrase. But I'd prefer, obviously, to not change it, since it is a very important concept to what I'm writing about. And, frankly, it's a really common term. In the past, the same phrase has been used by (rather high-profile) others in the same field.

I do have access to free legal services, if necessary. But I'd like a little informal advice on how all this works. Does my use likely infringe? Should I change it immediately, or would it be worthwhile to hold out?

It is possible I will use my website commercially in the future, if that makes any difference. But for now, I'm not.

NOT your logo

philip-random — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:36:22 -0800

What's the cheapest, simplest, most effective way to stop somebody else from owning my logo? I have a logo (image only, no words) that I have ambitions of using as a sort of stamp in a bunch of related online (and not) creative projects. My concern is not about denying use of this image to others (information does want to be free etc). Rather, I don't want someone else to be able to walk in, claim my image as their own and stop me from using it.

Am I being paranoid here or is there some cheap, simple, prudent, effective step (or steps) that I should take to protect myself?

In terms of jurisdiction, I'm thinking the world in general, North America in particular.

Artwork design stolen yet not trademarked.

maalsa — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:30:01 -0800

Somebody stole and is reproducing artwork that I never copyrighted or trademarked. What can I do? Details inside... I created a design based on the famous "I <3 NY" design for the local community I live in. I believe it's far enough from the original in that the font used is completely different, the "<3" is turned upside down and made into a paw, and the words are spelled out as opposed to abbreviated.

Anyhow, I created stickers and t-shirts and started selling them in some of the local shops last April. Come October, I find another shop completely ripped off MY design, look for look, and is doing the same thing.

Unfortunately I did not trademark or copyright the design, and when I confronted this other shop owner, they said that THEY had trademarked the design. Now I have no idea if they actually have or not, but still...

Do I have any legal recourse in this?

Can copyrighted images be used on grave markers?

kwaller — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:56:42 -0800

Can copyrighted images be used on grave markers? My father died last month, and we need to pick out a marker for his grave. He was a hot-rodder, and the love of his life was his '73 Mach I Mustang.

We'd be thrilled if we could have the classic Mustang emblem engraved on his marker, which is likely to be a flat, gray granite gravestone.

The funeral director with whom we were working let us know that copyrighted images weren't available for such use. Instead, he showed us some clip art. However, a family member talked to a coworker who used to work for a monument company, and she said that the Mustang emblem might be available. . . .

So, hivemind, is this something that we should pursue? I'd rather not rely fully on family hearsay or sources, and I'd prefer not to invite a legal imbroglio. If anyone (paging ColdChef) could give me a definitive answer and maybe some leads, I'd appreciate it.

Grave is in OK; we don't have too much to spend.

I need help with this creation.

CollectiveMind — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:01:55 -0800

I have invented a calendar that I think is unique in design and function. Last year, I spent six months reviewing copyrights and patents (and applications) from the US Patent and Trademark Office and US Copyright Office office and didn't see or read anything that fits it. I've since filed for a patent and a copyright. I'm told I'll get one or the other since it is either art or a device, but not both.
I think its design is to the standard calendar as the Reverse Polish Notation Calculator is to the standard calculator. I mean, it's initially confusing, but once you get used to it, it's much more efficient. To me, this means it would only appeal to a niche market, but probably a strong and loyal niche market - engineers, actuaries, event planners, etc.

My main question is, how can I get it printed for distribution and in front of my niche? I frequent a lot of thrift stores, and last week, barely missed buying an HP Large Format Printer for under $100. The office supply stores and online printers, by contrast, charge about $8 per sq. foot for the kind of color it has. And because I think it must be at least wall poster size to be of practical use, that makes the cost of each one nearly $70. That seems to much forthe market to bear. Does anybody know how I can reproduce this and get it circulating (and among whom) in the market, either by finding a cheap, large format printer or a cheap means for digital or offset printing?

How dangerous would it be to make and sell an anti-"insert name of big box retailer here" t-shirt?

fenriq — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:42:30 -0800

How dangerous would it be to make and sell an anti-"insert name of big box retailer here" t-shirt? I've been writing a blog for the last several years that highlights misdeeds of a large retail chain. I'd like to branch out and create some t-shirts that include the name of the retail chain. What kind of legal woes could I be exposing myself to?

The t-shirts would be the name of the blog along with some pithy comment about their business practices. It seems like this should be a fair use issue but I'm not sure.

I'm not expecting to sell very many and don't want to expose myself to lawsuits or anything but the shirts would not make any sense without the name of the retailer on them.

Thanks.

Useful, beautiful, and legal

notquitemaryann — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:55:58 -0800

Can Spoonflower or a similar company legally print me a bolt of fabric using a William Morris (1834-1896) design? Please forgive any glaring stupidity in this question. I assumed the answer to it was yes, until I attempted to double-check with Google, and have managed to confuse myself anew as to copyright and trademarks and public domain. There are of course companies which sell Morris prints from around $25 to $200 a yard, but is there anything preventing me (apart from Spoonflower's discretion, and possibly good taste) from having my own batch made up for less? I've suddenly been loaned a gorgeous Arts and Crafts-style rug, and my blank white bedroom walls are looking very sad by comparison.

Help a wannabe graphics designer make a logo

coachjerry — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:52:54 -0800

What are some good resources for designing a logo for my company? Looking to get a trademark/logo for a new youth sports program. I've downloaded some (very basic) drawing programs to try to create this logo (one is Intaglio, for Mac, demo version only), but I am "artistically challenged". Searching for clip art online was not very helpful - lots of links, not much content. Any "artistic" links, books, etc. would be welcome. My son mentioned a site he thought he heard about here - a company that designs logos for companies for a small fee. Does this sound familiar?

OpenSource project name infringing a TradeMark

schwa — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:33:02 -0800

Should I rename my Open Source project because someone owning a trademark with the same name wants me to? I have an Open Source project called "TouchMap" that allows iPhone Developers to easily add maps to their applications. The code is part of my TouchCode repository (large portions of TouchCode went into the Obama iPhone app) and is freely available to anyone.

I've just been contacted by the owner of the TouchMap trademark who is demanding that I stop using his trademark. I'm a coder not a lawyer damnit. So help me out here. I'm trying to avoid any legal expenses, I don't release the code for profit but to help do my part for the Open Source community. It isn't a huge hardship to rename the project, but it is an inconvenience and one I'd rather just avoid.

TouchMap isn't a product as such, it's just a loosely defined collection of source code to help other people add mapping to their iPhone applications. Because of this and because I'm not selling TouchMap do I still need to change the name?

trademark vs. my domain name

rhizome — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:08:31 -0800

I think a company is trying to do an end-around to get my domain name, what can I do about it? I have a domain name that another company wants. They used to have a different name, but now they've registered the trademark.

A few years ago I started to get occasional emails from someone asking about one of my domain names. I always had plans (not so well fleshed out) and didn't want to let it go. I never entertained selling it, never mentioned money or any bad-faith things like that. I did some Googling and found out about the company with the slightly-different name (think "Bob's X" where now they're dropping the "Bob's") existing in another part of the country (USA).

Today I received an email from UPS about a package that was going to be delivered to the city I had found before, using an email address at this domain. I did a search at USPTO and found that they had received (I think) the trademark about six months ago.

The frustrating thing is that I had explored getting the trademark based on my plans, even talking to a lawyer, but not following through. I'll likely be talking to this lawyer later, but I want to probe the hive.

Does my Flickr photo infringe on a trademark? Do I have to remove it?

bryanjbusch — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:38:26 -0800

Does my Flickr photo infringe on a trademark? Do I have to remove it? Here is the photo I took of a sign in the cafeteria where I work. It's goofy and funny, and my friends felt the same way about it.

The most recent comment from effectivegrantsolutions states:

This is a registered trademark. You must remove the photo and comments at once or face prosecution. Your page will be checked within 48 hours to insure removal or you will be prosecuted.

Am I in the wrong? Is this a weird hoax? I searched for "effective grant solutions" but literally nothing shows up for that phrase (when put in quotes).

What do you think would happen if I merely restricted that photo to my Flickr contacts?

Lovecraftian Lawsuits Pt II

Artw — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:56:28 -0800

This is a bit of a follow up to this question. I'm contemplating a small comics project staring a fictionalised version of HP Lovecraft (something I've done before but thsi will be slight higher profile) and the title will be something along the lnes of "H.P. Lovecraft's World of Weirdness". Is the use of his name in the title like that, which might imply some kind of authorship or endorsement or somesuch, likely to bring the Lovecraft estate down on me like a ton of bricks?

brandname.com

Anonymous — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:13:40 -0800

I noticed a well known food related domain name is available. What's the deal if I register it? I don't mean to squat on the domain. I'm a huge fan of the product, and to see it's domain neglected breaks my heart. Could I make a tribute site? Could I put ads? Would I have to use it for something completely unrelated? What happens when the company who owns the brand notices? Can they just take it from me? Do things change if I also buy a popular way of misspelling the product name?

Some more details: I'm in Canada, but so is the corporation that makes the product in question, if that helps/hurts. I should also clarify that it's possible that the exact brand name is not the name of the domain, but the name and product are clearly featured in the domain.

Trademark, business moving questions!

grablife365 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:04:17 -0800

I have a few basic business questions about a trademark and changing the business address when I move. Any advice would be great! I have a few questions and I'm hoping someone can answer them for me please.

1 - I want to trademark my business' name. I know it will take a while and cost a lot but what I'm wondering if I have to trademark the business nickname if I choose one and if I have to trademark on the variations such as grablife365 Baby or grablife365 home in addition to just grablife365. I don't understand how this works. I wouldn't think I'd need to but I just want to be sure.

2 - If I file a DBA where I'm living now and then move to a new county in the same state do I need to fill out papers again or just contact someone and let them know? How does that work if I move to another state?

3- If I move a few times in the beginning of setting up my business, does that make my business look unstable? I'll be moving sometime in June to a new county and maybe the year after to CA. I don't know how long I'll be there but I want to use mailbox etc if that makes any difference.

So those my questions. Please help!

Hollywood Sign Trademarked?

Ragma — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:29:58 -0800

I just got a cease and desist letter from a company that claims the Hollywood sign is one of it's clients. They are demanding monetary damages for a tourist photo of the sign I have on my website. Help. WTF? Etc. So I was at first assuming this was an April fools joke, but they do indeed claim the sign as a client. And they do send out cease and desists and demand damage payments for using the photo. And the Hollywood Chamber website does say you need permission to use images of the sign. This is news to me.

Their claim is that the photo on my website "may represent an unlawful attempt to associate [my website] with the Property and improperly indicates the Chamber's endorsement and / or approval of [my website] and their services."

They want money. I'm suppose to give them all documents necessary for them to determine how much I owe them.

Now....... It's just a tourist photo. And I explicitly make no copyright claims about the photo. And it's not used in any way that even the most determined lawyer could argue constitutes or suggests any association or endorsement. I have Google ads, but I'm not selling anything, and the site has nothing to do with Hollywood, movies, Los Angeles, or movie stars.

I don't think I'm doing anything even remotely wrong here, and I don't want to take the photo off my website. But there is the threat to obtain monetary damages to deal with as well. My initial reaction is to hire a lawyer and counter sue them, but I have no idea where to go with that.

My question - What are my options here, and my best course of action? I'm not rich, so fighting this in court isn't something I can bankroll. But if they are indeed going to try and squeeze $5000 from me I'd rather use that money for a lawyer than just hand it over.

Dealing with domain squatters on a budget

bifter — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:33:37 -0800

What can a free online game do about a domain squatting / potential IP infringement situation, that doesn't involve commercial legal advice? (Asking for a friend). Background: a free online game, in existence for over 5 years and run as a hobby, although with a microscopically small commercial element (a tiny subset of players pay for premium membership with small in-game benefits - the revenue pays for little more than server costs).

The game's name is NOT the same as the domain it was hosted on (it is only slightly different). The domain of the same name was formerly owned by some odd chinese-language site, which has recently been acquired by a third party. The third party has developed a similar web-based game to that owned by my friend, and - crucially - named it exactly the same as my friend's game (ie both games now have the same name, but are hosted on different domains). The domain owner has offered to sell the domain to my friend for an unacceptably high fee - my friend counter-offered (d'oh), but no agreement has been reached.

The question: can anyone give an outline appraisal of possible (free) legal routes that my friend can take in this matter? Does it sound like there is a case to object to the domain ownership on the grounds of domain squatting? Is there a trademark or other copyright infringement that could be pursued somehow without legal representation? The co-owners are in the US and UK, don't know about the location of the third party.

I know that you're not lawyers, all advice can be considered as having been offered without prejudice.

What protections does a state trademark provide that a federal trademark does not?

Mr_Crazyhorse — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:24:34 -0800

What protections does a state trademark provide that a federal trademark does not? I am currently applying for a federal trademark to provide protection to certain products that I intend to produce and distribute nationwide. I understand that IN ADDITION TO a federal trademark, I can obtain a state [CA] trademark.

Is it worth the time and money to obtain the state trademark in addition to the federal trademark I am currently applying for? Does the state trademark afford me any additional protections?

Is it worth my time and money to apply for a state trademark in the primary state that I will be doing business in? Since I will be doing business in several states, should I also obtain trademark protection in those states?

Thanks.

How do we stop the playground bullies?

eve harrington — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:12:04 -0800

This group blog/community site for parents that I contribute to is under attack from a better-funded competitor. Help. Well, maybe ‘attack’ is too strong a word, but it does feel pretty aggressive. Our site is offsprung.com, which started back in May 2007. Our community area, called The Playground, is where users can create a profile, upload photos and videos, ‘friend’ people, start threads—you know, social networking stuff. Now Babble.com, a parenting site from the folks who brought you Nerve.com, has just announced their new parenting social area, dubbed The Playground (!), where parents can do all those things, too. An angry mob of my fellow Offsprungers have jumped onto Babble’s Playground boards and are being kind of shrill in a, well, playground kind of way (you can hear the “no fair!” or “I’m telling!” in nearly every post). Of course, I doubt anything is officially trademarked on Offsprung (damned impractical arty types), but do we have any sort of legal standing to tell the bullies to get off the Playground, name-wise, at least?

FOSS project website takedown over legal threat. What can be done?

_aa_ — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:24:05 -0800

Webhost takes down open source project website in response to legal threat from small company with similar name, similar product. What can be done? A friend of mine administers an open source project whose website was taken down by their webhost after the host received a threatening notice from a small company with a similar but not identical name and a similar but not identical product.

Let's, for example, say that the open source project's name is "Recipitome" and it's a software application that manages recipes. The small company's trademarked identity is "MegaRecipitome" and they make a hardware recipe manager. The company does preexist the open source project.

This strikes me as Coke being able to take down any domain containing the word "OK", but perhaps this is standard in trademark law.

Being a small open source project, obviously there is no money for legal representation.

Is anyone aware of or has anybody had a similar situation with a project or website? If so how was it resolved?

It's pretty crucial for this project to retain it's identity. Any strategies or suggestions for restoring and then protecting their website in the future?

Thank you in advance.