With Vancouver's 2010 winter events concluded, sports fans are looking forward to the London summer Olympics. However, a paradox has popped up in the attempt to promote the 2012 Games: The very rules put in place to protect the Olympic brand are preventing travel agents from promoting the Olympic brand.

In an effort to protect the reputation of the games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the Metropolitan Police are cooperating to warn travel agents about the consequences of breaking trademark and copyright laws. Several agents have already been reprimanded. “It will be tricky for travel firms to benefit from the games if they can’t say 'Go to London for the Olympics,'" said the chairman of the Prevention of Fraud in Travel Group. No kidding Continue reading...

Marketers always want to capitalize on major sports events, as evidenced in the recent Winter Olympics, when some advertisers who were not official Olympic sponsors tried to use the Olympics to their advantage. If they are not officially sanctioned, these marketers do so at their own risk.

That's why Reebok is being taken to task – and to court – for manufacturing and marketing a "Finish Strong! We Are Saints" t-shirt in association with the 2010 Super Bowl.

A company called Finish Strong is suing the sportswear company for infringing on its trademark. Company founder Dan Green wrote a book titled "Finish Strong" that inspired Saints quarterback Drew Brees to adopt the phrase as his mantra. The New Orleans Saints, of course, pulled off an upset win in the Super Bowl.Continue reading...

It is no secret that the NFL takes the management of its brand and trademarks very seriously. In fact, the level of authority the brand exerts over the league may soon lead it to the Supreme Court, where the NFL will defend its grip on trademarks.

However, the NFL may have gone too far in a recent attempt to claim everything football as its own. As the New Orleans Saints prepare to make the team's first ever Super Bowl appearance, the NFL has claimed that the fan chant "Who dat" is property of the league. Fans are not amused.Continue reading...

Crocs once again finds itself the target of a lawsuit, this time filed by Columbia Sportswear.

This go around, however, is not about safety concerns on escalators.

Columbia’s lawsuit claims that Crocs siphoned off trade secrets, interfered in a contractual agreement, and aided and abetted in a breach of duty and loyalty. The suit seeks $310,000 in damages as well as a halt in sales of specific footwear models and the forfeit of profits.

Columbia alleges that footwear designer Brian O’Boyle began working for Crocs while still employed by Columbia. So Columbia filed a lawsuit against O’Boyle in August.Continue reading...

The legal ping pong between Starbucks and a small New Hampshire coffee roaster continues after a federal appeals court vacated part of a ruling in favor of the Black Bear Micro Roastery last week.  

Starbucks sued the family-owned roaster in 2001 over trademark infringement, claiming Black Bear was misleading consumers and diluting the Starbucks brand with its “Mister Charbucks” and “Charbucks” roasts. The case was originally dismissed in June 2008 by a US District Judge and appealed by Starbucks.Continue reading...

Allow me to clear up some confusion.

The Porsche Cayman is a sexy 2-seater sports coupe born of German engineering. The Crocs Cayman is a snug-fitting lightweight clog, allegedly modeled on “Italian design,” by Americans in Colorado. I understand if you were confused though, they’re practically identical!

Porsche, fearing consumer confusion and the dilution of their established brand, notified the clog manufacturer in May of their alleged infringement. In late July Porsche filed a trademark infringement suit against Crocs in a German court.Continue reading...

Restaurant name disputes aren’t new, and in the New York metro area they can be as tumultuous as Yankees/Mets debates, such as the fight over the Patsy’s Pizza name that continues to rage despite a jury trial and court order.

More recently, a federal judge has ruled that a Long Island restaurant can call itself the Original Vincent’s Clam Bar even though the (small-o) original Vincent’s, which was established in Manhattan’s Little Italy in 1904, still exists. 

For older restaurant brands, the year of establishment is part of its appeal. The most popular steakhouse in New York, Peter Luger, promotes its legacy with “Est. 1887” in its logo. McSorely’s Old Ale House claims to be the oldest bar in New York, but a 1995 New York Times article disputed not only its date of establishment, but also whether it’s even the oldest bar in the city.Continue reading...

There’s been a lot of talk about branded apps recently, but what about the branding of the word ‘app’?

App is a strong and powerful term. A noun of action from the Latin ‘applicare,’ it connotes getting stuff done, as in, applying something or oneself. Now it is synonymous with those little downloadable widgets on an iPhone.

It almost feels like Steve Jobs invented the term: Apple has the “App Store,” the catch-phrase “There’s an app for that” — heck, it’s even part of their name. But the Engadget report that Microsoft’s Zune HD will be using the word “Apps” in their “marketplace” raises the question: Can they do that? Continue reading...

Call it battle of the “nude” rocker relatives.

Nude Brands, founded by Ali Hewson, wife of Paul Hewson – better known as U2 front man Bono – failed to block last weekend’s launch of STELLANUDE, a perfume by fashion designer Stella McCartney – Paul's daughter, of course – whose eponymous company is part of cosmetics/beauty giant L'Oréal Group.Continue reading...