Trademark Law Archives - Page 4 of 8

Who Dat Owns ‘Who Dat’? Dat’s Us, Sez da NFL

Wall St. Journal: “For decades, even through a multitude of dismal seasons, New Orleans Saints fans have belted out a cheer they say is as much a part of the fabric of their city as jambalaya and jazz: ‘Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints? Who Dat? Who Dat?’ Now some are asking, ‘Who dat trying to spoil our fun?’ The Saints’ win last Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings vaulted the team into its first Super Bowl, lifting, at least temporarily, the long shadow of Hurricane Katrina over the city. But just as New Orleans is revving itself into a fever pitch about the Feb. 7 showdown in Miami against the Indianapolis Colts, the National Football League is claiming ownership of the phrase ‘Who Da’t.”

See a related story by the Associated Press where the Attorney General of Louisiana says sellers of Who Dat products do not need approval from the NFL if the products do not relate to the Saints football team.

Update: The NFL apparently has backed off on its trademark infringement claims.

NFL Using Its Deep Pocket to Stop Vendors from Selling “Who Dat” Merchandise

Times-Picayune: “Who Dat say? The NFL say, that’s who. And, listen up, the NFL ain’t kidding. Those guys mean business. . . . storm troopers wearing uniforms carrying the label ‘NFL Trademarks’ were busy knocking on the doors of the Fleurty Girl T-shirt and the Storyville T-shirt Shop, demanding they cease and desist producing garments bearing the words ‘Who Dat’.”

File Extensions Cannot be Trademarks

Internet Cases: “One of the issues in the case of Autodesk, Inc. v. Dassault Systemes Solidworks was whether Autodesk could claim trademark rights and the letters ‘DWG‘. The .dwg (‘drawing’) file extension is the native file format for Autodesk’s flagship product AutoCAD. Plaintiff Autodesk moved for summary judgment on the trademark issue. The defendant pointed out that the trademark laws do not permit one to claim exclusive rights in trademarks that are merely functional.”

Epic Trademark Battle Erupts Between Makers of Competing Fart-Sound Software

Lowering the Bar: “I think my iPhone is a great invention, made even greater by the many software applications that you can download for it. But as 95 percent of my cable channels demonstrate, even the greatest inventions can be put to utterly stupid uses. Some of the best-selling iPhone apps fall into that category. I am proud to say I own many apps, but not either “iFart Mobile” or “Pull My Finger,” both of which, for just 99 cents, allow users to play a variety of simulated flatulence sounds. iFart was produced by InfoMedia, Inc., based in Colorado and owned by a guy named Joel Comm; while Pull My Finger was created by Florida-based Air-O-Matic, Inc. As recounted by a Fort Collins newspaper, the two companies quickly emerged as the titans of flatulence simulation: ‘

[Air-O-Matic] held the early lead in sales of novelty applications that produce flatulence noises, but iFart surpassed Pull My Finger in popularity, in part because of the marketing that sparked the potential court battle’.” See Joel Comm’s blog post on the lawsuit.

ASU objection Flattens Pub’s Sun Devil Ale

Phoenix Business Gazette: “The owner of a downtown Chandler microbrewery learned the hard way that you can’t name beer after the Arizona State University mascot. Sun Devil Ale has been a hit at San Tan Brewing Co. for a couple of years, said owner and brewmaster Anthony Canecchia. But a strongly worded letter from an attorney representing ASU is forcing him to scrap Sparky-related promotional items, change menus and host a name-changing contest.”