Ronnie on September 17, 2009 at 12:46 AM

Oh, really?

Let’s take your example of the Fox News Channel. Can they sue anybody using the phrase “News Channel”? POLITICO take care to ALWAYS use their name in capitals. They do not themselves anything but POLITICO. Why should anybody confuse that with College Politico?

It’s like trying to copyright the word ‘pundit’, which we know is very rare in the blogosphere.

I don’t think you know what standard character claim means, but the logo isn’t what’s at issue anyway. As for confusion, if the media reports that College Politico did something, certainly some people will think it might be some junior offshoot of Politico. That’s what it’s about. Surely this is more clear cut than Apple Corps vs Apple Computer and that’s been going on for 30 years. To suggest that Politico doesn’t have a leg to stand on is just wrong.

Ronnie on September 16, 2009 at 8:01 PM

You seem to be a little unclear on what I said. First, “Standard Character claim” has a specific meaning. From USPTO.gov:

Standard Character Claim: The mark is presented in standard character format without claim to any particular font style, size or color.

Note that their mark consists of “stylized capital letters ‘POLITICO’ in the color red.” They can’t just claim the word politico. (BTW, POLITICO hasn’t claimed a “logo,” and I carefully avoided using that term in conjunction with its mark. Such distinctions matter.)

Nor did I “suggest that Politico doesn’t have a leg to stand on” — I said they couldn’t prevail. I’ll qualify that to say they probably couldn’t prevail, but it would help if you read what I wrote, and not what you think I wrote.

faraway on September 16, 2009 at 11:59 PM

The fact is that someone first hearing about an entity called College Politico would not be insane to guess that it’s some kind of offshoot of Politico. That’s called likelihood of confusion.

The single word politico can’t be trademarked and defended.

The 2 words “campus politico” can be defended, under certain circumstances. However, Politico has no basis to defend it.

They don’t use the website CampusPolitico.com.

They dont refer to the page on their site as “Campus Politico”. They call it “Politico | Campus”

They have not used the standard ™ symbol anywhere on that page.

TheCollegePolitico.com has been around for over a year and Politico hasn’t said a word to them.

Politico doesn’t stand a chance defending the term “campus politico” under these circumstances.

The guy should just ignore the C&D letter. They probably just sent 10 or 12 out to different sites hoping they would take action.

and they have, in fact, disclaimed the word (”Standard Character claim: No”).

Paul_in_NJ on September 16, 2009 at 7:40 PM

I don’t think you know what standard character claim means, but the logo isn’t what’s at issue anyway. As for confusion, if the media reports that College Politico did something, certainly some people will think it might be some junior offshoot of Politico. That’s what it’s about. Surely this is more clear cut than Apple Corps vs Apple Computer and that’s been going on for 30 years. To suggest that Politico doesn’t have a leg to stand on is just wrong.

For starters, there is a trademark for Politico…

Word Mark: POLITICO

Goods and Services: [...] Newspaper reporting on the activities of the legislative and executive branches of the Federal government, officials and employees of the executive and legislative branches of the Federal government, members of Congress and their campaigns, and other matters of interest to people who work for or with the Federal government. FIRST USE: 20070910. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20070910

…but here’s where the nuance comes in. While you can’t trademark common words, you can trademark a particular portrayal of a common word — which is what Capitol News Company LLC has done:

The color(s) red is/are claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of stylized capital letters “POLITICO” in the color red.

In other words, they’ve trademarked the red, all-caps version of the word POLITICO. They cannot trademark the word itself — and they have, in fact, disclaimed the word (“Standard Character claim: No”).

The other factor to consider, however — and it’s significant — is the concept of “confusion”: How likely is it that someone coming across The College Politico will think he’s at a site run by Capitol News Company LLC? More nuance. I note that the College Politico’s “logo” looks nothing like POLITICO.

I’m not an IP (or any other kind of) lawyer — but I’ve had extensive exposure to trademark law in my business. A good trademark lawyer would conclude that, in the end, Capitol News Company LLC could not prevail. However, the cost of that determination would be high — and that’s what POLITICO is counting on.

It’s a common word, I frankly think Ed’s holding back too much. I’m no lawyer but that doesn’t mean it’s not easy to see the folks responsible for this at the Politico are being jack@sses.

Free Constitution on September 16, 2009 at 6:19 PM

I agree on the jackass part, but that’s got nothing to do with the legal argument. Go start a TV station and call it The College Fox News Channel. You won’t last long. I don’t care how common the word “fox” is.

Ronnie on September 16, 2009 at 5:10 PM

It’s a common word, I frankly think Ed’s holding back too much. I’m no lawyer but that doesn’t mean it’s not easy to see the folks responsible for this at the Politico are being jack@sses.

I heard Ben S. did another Obama-slob piece with this new set of kneepads.

(just kidding)

I’m not the President.

Ed Morrissey on September 16, 2009 at 5:04 PM

That’s nice.

let them know:
http://www.politico.com/aboutus/feedback.html

Ronnie on September 16, 2009 at 3:51 PM

I’m not the President.

my friend Stephen

I’m not an attorney

Politico is being both ridiculous and a very bad neighbor

——-

Skip Gates is a friend

I don’t know all the facts.

the Cambridge Police acted stupidly

And frisbee, and…

Midas on September 16, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Frisbee is trademarked by Wham-o, that’s why the game of Ultimate, is not called “Ultimate Frisbee”. And also one reason why Discraft is the preferred 175g disc used.

kirkill on September 16, 2009 at 11:16 AM

You know way too much about frisbees.

Tzetzes on September 16, 2009 at 3:00 PM

The Spectator is British.

The Spectator.
The American Spectator.

The Politico.
The College Politico.

What’s the problem?