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posted by martyb on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:36PM   Printer-friendly

Read the full story on the cbcnews community blog or wired.

U.S. trademark registration 4,473,631 was issued to one Paul Ingrisano, aka "Pi Productions Corp" of New York. In January, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gave Ingrisano a trademark on the symbol π. pi followed by a period: a design Ingrisano uses on T-shirts sold at some brick-and-mortar stores.

When Ingrisano discovered that California-based print-on-demand outlet Zazzle offered an array of clothing items that featured the symbol pi, he had his attorney send the company a strongly-worded cease-and-desist letter this month demanding their removal.

"This would be like McDonalds claiming the letter M as a trademark," wrote Jez Kemp, whose Zazzle store offers apparel imagining pi dressed in a pirate costume. "The trademark is in the combination of style and symbol, not the symbol itself."

Attorney Millet defends the cease-and-desist letter. He says that to his knowledge none of the designs sold through Zazzle included the exact trademark π. -- pi followed by a period -- but some of them were confusingly similar to his client's design.

In 2011, Ingrisano attempted to trademark "I<3" artnet reports, which was "published for opposition" in June 2013. Reebok's intellectual property watchdogs claimed in a December 14, 2013 "Notice of Opposition" that "I<3" is too close to comfort to its own "I3" trademark.

 
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Alfred on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:50PM

    by Alfred (4006) on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:50PM (#50734) Journal

    but some of them were confusingly similar to his client's design.

    Yeah sure. Confusingly similar... if you are an idiot.

    It reminds me of the story/joke/urban-legend of the doctor being questioned on the witness stand.
    Lawyer: Did you take his pulse?
    Doctor: No.
    Lawyer: Did you check his breathing?
    Doctor: No.
    --insert more of this kind of questioning
    Lawyer: Then how could you be sure he was actually dead?
    Doctor: Well his brain is in a jar on my desk but I suppose he could be practicing law somewhere.

    Idiots.

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