Posts Tagged ‘super bowl’

March Trademark Madness!

Saturday, 19 March, 2011 23:30 Written by Mark Malek 5 Comments

By: Mark R. Malek

I’m just sitting here watching the NCAA tournament and I know that somehow, someway, I can relate this to intellectual property.  Of course, I remember that “March Madness” is a registered trademark.  I did not realize, however, that it is registered to the March Madness Athletic Association.  I have to assume that the NCAA Cartel somehow has their hands in the March Madness Athletic Association.

As you can imagine, similar to the NFL’s aggressive protection of it’s most famous trademark – the “Super Bowl,” the March Madness Athletic Association has lawyers that rigorously defend its trademarks.  I read a pretty good article about March Madness and how you just can’t use the term to promote your own goods and services.

Inevitably though, you will see a commercial or some advertisement where, for example, a car dealership is promoting their big sale as the “March Madness Sale.”  You have to assume that this type of behavior gets shut down pretty quickly.  The alternative, of course, is to think of something to promote your goods or services in a way that ties it to the event in question, but that still respects the trademark rights of others.  That is why you always see commercials around late January and early February that say something along the lines of “are you ready for the Big Game?”  Everyone knows what “Big Game” they are talking about, right?  I don’t dare say it because of fear that the NFL will work me over real good.

The point here is that just because the name of the sporting event is cool, do not think that you can automatically use that name to promote your own goods or services.  The other point is that you will certainly have time to write articles like this if your team has been crappy for 5 straight years and you have stopped paying attention to the tournament….thanks a lot NC State!

Patent on a Donut? Of Course Not

Wednesday, 23 February, 2011 11:28 Written by Mark Malek 3 Comments

By: Mark R. Malek

This is a slight departure from our sometimes informational posts.  When I was watching TV the other night, however, I accidentally saw a Dunkin Donuts commercial.  I say accidentally because I can’t remember the last time that I actually saw a commercial (besides the Super Bowl – oops, I mean The Big Game – please don’t sue me NFL).  I generally record any show that I want to watch using a DVR, which is standard in any house nowadays.  The trick is trying to find time to watch the shows that I like.

Back to the matter at hand, even when commercials are on, I generally try not to pay attention to them.  This is very easy for me because I have the attention span of a two year old.  For those of you that do not have kids, translation – no attention span and easily distracted!  I happened to look up just long enough to see the commercial below:

As you can see, the commercial depicts a Dunkin Donuts employee bringing a plate of donuts into the “Patent Office” and announce that Dunkin Donuts has re-invented the chocolate donut. What appears to be a Patent Examiner simply stamps a piece of paper and hands it to the Dunkin Donuts employee. That just made me chuckle. If that is what the public thinks, then how can there possibly be a backlog of over 700,000 patent applications? If all the Patent Examiner does is eat a chocolate donut and allow a patent with the punch of a stamp, then every single application I file will now be accompanied by a box of donuts and an ink refill cartridge for the magic “patent stamp.”  Is the Patent Examiner now to be the butt of donut jokes? Has the Patent Examiner taken the place of the proverbial “cop” in the donut jokes?

Of course not. Most everyone understands that a patent application is not a form that is filled out and stamped by a Examiner. Instead, these are very detailed documents with complicated claims that are excruciatingly analyzed by Examiners in Washington (and soon also in Detroit – see my article here). The patent application process is not a short one, but the end results can be very valuable.

Well, I found some entertainment value in the Dunkin Donuts commercial, and I hope that Patent Examiners are not offended by the commercial. It certainly will never be as easy as depicted in the commercial to obtain something as valuable as a US Patent, but I am hoping that the various measures being taken by the management of the Patent Office will streamline the process and chip away at the backlog.

The Terrible Towel and Trademarks

Tuesday, 25 January, 2011 11:21 Written by Mark Malek 3 Comments

By: Mark R. Malek

I figured that the timing of this story just could not be any better.  I was just in Pittsburgh to see the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I have been a lifelong Jets fan and my wife specifically told me – “you’ll regret it the rest of your life if you don’t go.”  Of course, I did not take into account the gametime forecast of 4 degrees before booking my flights from Florida up to Pittsburgh, but who cares, right?

For the record, I live in Florida for a reason!  I cannot stand the cold, let alone the bitter cold that I somehow survived in Heinz Field.  It was one of the greatest sports experiences of my life, and I am really glad I did it.  I just wish that the Jets would have pulled it out.  Let me also take this opportunity to thank the great City of Pittsburgh for its hospitality.  The people of Pittsburgh might be the nicest people that I have ever encountered.  The fans showed true sportsman like qualities and everyone (and I do not exaggerate when I say everyone) was very courteous all the time.  It was my first visit to Pittsburgh, but certainly will not be my last.

I got thinking on the plane ride back (made especially long by my Pittsburgh Steelers neighbor that I traveled with) about a possible intellectual property story relating to my experience.  I had to look no further than the Terrible Towel that I purchased for my kids as a souvenir.  Everyone knows what the Terrible Towel is.  Made famous in Pittsburgh, it is something that has been copied by many sports franchises.  I assumed that “The Terrible Towel” was covered by a U.S. Trademark and boy was I right!  According to my quick search on the USPTO website, there are 11 registered trademarks for “The Terrible Towel.”

I dug a bit deeper and noticed that the trademark rights to “The Terrible Towel” family of marks are owned by the Allegheny Valley School Corporation.  I had to do some digging to get to the bottom of this and read about the history of “The Terrible Towel.”  Apparently, prior to the Steelers first playoff game in 1975, Myron Cope came up with the “gimmick” of the Terrible Towel to get the fans fired up for the game.  Clearly it has worked as the Steelers are in pursuit of their seventh Championship.  In 1996 Cope assigned the rights to The Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School System in hopes that its proceeds would benefit the school.  The towel has brought in over $2million to the school system.  To me, it’s just another example of the greatness of the people of Pittsburgh.

Thank you NY Jets for another great season.  Thank you Pittsburgh for the hospitality and good luck to you in the Super Bowl and, most of all, Thank you Myron Cope for providing a Pittsburgh Based intellectual property story for me!

Who Dat Say They Gonna Sue for Trademark Infringement?  Da NFL – Dat Who!

Tuesday, 02 February, 2010 09:55 Written by Mark Malek 2 Comments

Gravatar Iconby Mark Malek

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).

nfl_a_tshirt1_sw_600We 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.

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2012

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