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Can Usernames Violate Trademark Law?
from the fun-with-over-anxious-lawyers dept
Aviran writes "I found this via digg.com. Bluecollardistro.com got a legal threat this morning from FamilyPants.com because a user on their forum chose 'FamilyPants' as their username. They're upset because Google (and only Google) puts the user's profile on the first page of results for "familypants"." A lot of the comments on Digg and the original post seem to confuse trademark and copyright law, but it's quite hard to see how this is a violation of trademark law. We've said it over and over again, but a trademark does not grant you full control over the trademark. It just lets you prevent others from using it in ways that are likely to be confusing. A user in a forum discussion is quite unlikely to confuse people -- though, it may depend on what the person is saying. If that user is constantly making statements to suggest that he or she is associated with the entity that owns the trademark, then they would actually have a claim. However, from what's been said, it doesn't sound like that's true at all. Instead, it sounds like someone's upset about someone else's Google rank.
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Database of trademarks
If this gets before a judge, I would hope he or she sees how ridiculous this request is. Otherwise, anyone who runs a forum or site that registers users will have to check each name against a database of trademarks to make sure every user is not infringing.
No, I think the real story here is that someone has a bad case of Google-rank envy, plain and simple.
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Re: Database of trademarks
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Re: Database of trademarks
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Re: Database of trademarks
It would be nerd-anarchy.
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No Subject Given
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Re: Database of trademarks
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hmmm....
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I eat babies
Hail Satan.
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No Subject Given
Just kidding around ;p
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hmmm....
So, I know how greedy people can be about thier google ranking, but this is rediculus. You mean I cannot be "mcdonalds" in all those forums I am in?
What about my other nick, "Big mack"?!?!?
Sheere, nerd-anarchy.... I hope they at least boost the forums ranking with all tis press. :-P
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Hm.
My original thought:
What if my last name was Comfort. And let's say my conception had a little help from a whisky and to remember that my parents made my first name Southern. So my parents name me: Southern Comfort - could problems arise? (I heard a story about some locals doing something very similar, but I think it was Jack Daniel Brewer or something - you get the idea.)
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Re: No Subject Given
:D
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City of Heroes
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Envy
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Patent time
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"because I didnt think of it first" envy
(or even "[email protected]")
by the way, that the hell is a "FamilyPants" anyway?
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Re: City of Heroes
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So I suppose my name is acceptable if...
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Re: City of Heroes
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Re: Database of trademarks
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Re: City of Heroes
Wow.... just wow.
Viewing Profile for FamilyPants
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Re: City of Heroes
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Break it up. boys and girls
"Teacher, he said my name and I don't want him to say my name; MAKE HIM STOP!
I wonder how the judicial system is going to like playing preschool teacher to a very whiney crowd?
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Re: hmmm....
What if your last name is mcdonalds?
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Irony
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Re: Irony
Just as well, the strip isn't funny anyway. We'll call all of the Google search hits to TD & others "property improvement" and move on.
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