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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: 3, Informative) by cosurgi on Tuesday June 03 2014, @07:09PM

    by cosurgi (272) on Tuesday June 03 2014, @07:09PM (#50743) Journal

    Uh, actually I meant permutations.

    --
    #
    #\ @ ? [adom.de] Colonize Mars [kozicki.pl]
    #
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday June 03 2014, @09:15PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday June 03 2014, @09:15PM (#50796) Journal

    Today

    VIA CERTIFIED MAIL

    cosurgi
    123 soylent lane
    Internet, Earth, 0.0.0.0
    Re: Infringement of Trademark Rights of LoRdTAW.

    Dear Mrs./Mr. cosurgi:
    This law firm represents LoRdTAW. (“Uh/uh/UH/uHâ€) in connection with its intellectual property rights. Your use of Uh/uh/UH/uH and Uh/uh/UH/uH is a violation of LoRdTAW’s common law trademark rights, common law service mark rights, and trade name rights, and this letter constitutes LoRdTAW’s demand that you cease and desist any and all use of these domain names. You should immediately forward this letter to your attorney.
    LoRdTAW is a family owned business offering Worthless Crap to consumers in the Earth, Solar System area, and throughout Earth. LoRdTAW was registered as an Earth corporation in [MONTH] [YEAR] and has continually used “Uh/uh/UH/uH†and “Uh/uh/UH/uH†(the “Marksâ€) throughout Earth as its brand name since that time. Since its incorporation, LoRdTAW has continually used the Marks in advertising campaigns and in the community, including through its website at www.greedyfucker.com which LoRdTAW registered on year 0. In addition, LoRdTAW has been actively involved in the community in its efforts to further promote its brand including its sponsorship of various events. As a result of these efforts, LoRdTAW’s customers, and the general public, have come to recognize LoRdTAW as an established and successful Worthless Crap business.

    In just [X] months, LoRdTAW has received a number of reports of actual consumer confusion. This presumably represents a small portion of consumers who are confused but never take the time to find another way to contact LoRdTAW and report the confusion caused by your use of these domain names.

    LoRdTAW has several options under Earth law to enforce its legal rights in the Marks. If LoRdTAW were to file a lawsuit against you, it would be entitled to seek: (1) preliminary and permanent injunctions; (2) actual monetary damages; (3) disgorging of any profits you have realized through your use of the Marks; (4) reimbursement of attorney’s fees required to prosecute a lawsuit against you; and (5) monetary damages for damage to LoRdTAW’s goodwill in the market.

    Please be advised that LoRdTAW will undertake all appropriate steps to protect its Marks and its associated goodwill. You can avoid legal action by immediately ceasing and desisting from any and all infringing activity including use of the www.greedyfucker.com. You must cease and desist all promotion and/or marketing of Worthless Crap on these domain names. You are hereby put on notice that LoRdTAW and I will be monitoring your use of these domain names for this purpose. Additionally, you must execute a copy of this letter and send it to this firm within seven (7) days of the receipt of this letter. I recommend you consult with an attorney before taking any action.

    If you or your attorney have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

    Sincerely,

    John D. Bag
    Asshatberg, Douche, Liarson and Associates.

    CC: Client

    Boiler plates are fun!