I recall a large company (I think it was Ford) in the early days of the Internet suing the person who had ford.com registered. Turned out the guys name was actually Ford and he wasn't in any kind of trademark violation. The company eventually bought the domain for what I assume was a hefty payday for the anonymous Mr. Ford.
I remember when you had to go to fordvehicles.com instead of ford.com.
I also remember sitting in front of my home-built desktop computer running Windows 95 and dialing up to access the internet using my 28.8kbps modem. I opened Netscape Navigator and typed in "http://www.nissan.com" expecting to see cars. Instead, I saw the following web page:
The legal battle over this domain name has been going on for two decades. It still doesn't belong to the car company.
Nissan should sue it simply because it is a god awful looking site.
20 years on and the freaking site still looks like it’s from the 20 year ago era. Hell, I was building much nicer looking sites myself 20 years ago on an Amiga 4000.
Got to love that newspeak style name... Office for Harmonization. Department of Truth, Ministry of Happiness, Committee of Prosperity come to mind, for some reason.
Should have just called it - Office of Equality....oops, my bad, that one apparently has been taken already.
"A registered business name, such as "Jane Doe Consulting," can help secure the business owner's right to a trademark and demonstrates commercial use of the name when applying for state or federal trademark protection. In this case, even though the business bears the owner's name, it is legally considered a fictitious name, according to the SBA."
For a moment, I thought it was because Steve Jobs maybe had his jeans made at this place? Of course, then after reading it, it was just because some lowlifes thought they could capitalize someone else.
It's really crass of them. As bad taste as it is, I'm really surprised that Apple never trademarked his name, or even his wife. Then again, most intelligent, classy people would never do something like that.
I hope that company goes out of business just on that alone. I would never shop there if they have that kind of business ethic. This is the kind of shit that Samsung would do.
I have to agree that the level of poor taste shown by this pair of derivative shysters is almost nauseating. I suspect that Apple thought that trademarking Jobs’s name would also be a tasteless thing to do, forgetting that other people may not hold him with the same regard as they do.
That’s just stupid. A brand based on someone else’s success can never carry an iota of relevance. It’s the wrong business model, right out of the door.
For example, Elon Musk is not trying to sell jeans and shirts under the name of Tesla, he is celebrating Tesla’s brilliance by using his name alongside his ideas (technology and patent intentions) to smack comfortable, complacent industries up the head.
"The name Tesla is public domain, and all of Nikola Tesla's patents have long since expired, so Tesla Motors is free to use his surname and his technology without owing any royalties or licensing to the Tesla family.
I am not challenging that, nor am I accusing Tesla Motors of stealing or profiting from a moniker. But the idea of a car company using someone else's family name without any formal connection to them is a slightly arresting notion. It would be like naming a company 'Steve Jobs Hoverbikes' 50 years from now, regardless of any ties to Apple or Jobs himself.
Elon Musk, if you're reading this: you owe us nothing, and you've done nothing but good things in the name of Nikola Tesla. But the fact remains: Tesla Motors, a company now worth billions, is using Nikola Tesla's name and they're using his technology, and all we want in return is a little bit of help."
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And Musk did help by donating to a Tesla museum to "correct" the perceived slight.
It's not like Elon Musk named his company Nikola Tesla. Tesla could be a last name of anyone but capitalizing on the first and last name of a hugely famous innovator and very well respected individual is just, in my opinion, poor taste.
There is a construction company around the Bay Area called "Disney Construction" but are in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Co. and do not try to be so it's different. Now if they were called Walt Disney Construction, you better believe there would be a lawsuit and they would likely lose!
Bizarre. So I could market clothing as Elon Musk brand attire with a stylized car logo and that would be fine (at least in Italy)? Are we all going to have to trademark our own names in case we become famous someday?
Bizarre. So I could market clothing as Elon Musk brand attire with a stylized car logo and that would be fine (at least in Italy)? Are we all going to have to trademark our own names in case we become famous someday?
Why not Enzo Ferrari?
Or Benito Mussolini? “Benito Mussolini’s Discount Electronics Warehouse... Our Prices Are Crazy!”
Bizarre. So I could market clothing as Elon Musk brand attire with a stylized car logo and that would be fine (at least in Italy)? Are we all going to have to trademark our own names in case we become famous someday?
Why not Enzo Ferrari?
Or Benito Mussolini? “Benito Mussolini’s Discount Electronics Warehouse... Our Prices Are Crazy!”
I was looking for a famous Italian that Italians feel proud of and would not like the name being used by an American company to sell jeans ...
Bizarre. So I could market clothing as Elon Musk brand attire with a stylized car logo and that would be fine (at least in Italy)? Are we all going to have to trademark our own names in case we become famous someday?
Why not Enzo Ferrari?
Or Benito Mussolini? “Benito Mussolini’s Discount Electronics Warehouse... Our Prices Are Crazy!”
I was looking for a famous Italian that Italians feel proud of and would not like the name being used by an American company to sell jeans ...
The court is clearly incompetent. It is crystal clear that the clothing company had a clear INTENT to use someone's name and used the company's infamous bite in their logo.
Bizarre. So I could market clothing as Elon Musk brand attire with a stylized car logo and that would be fine (at least in Italy)? Are we all going to have to trademark our own names in case we become famous someday?
Why not Enzo Ferrari?
Or Benito Mussolini? “Benito Mussolini’s Discount Electronics Warehouse... Our Prices Are Crazy!”
I was looking for a famous Italian that Italians feel proud of and would not like the name being used by an American company to sell jeans ...
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20 years on and the freaking site still looks like it’s from the 20 year ago era. Hell, I was building much nicer looking sites myself 20 years ago on an Amiga 4000.
Department of Truth, Ministry of Happiness, Committee of Prosperity come to mind, for some reason.
Should have just called it - Office of Equality....oops, my bad, that one apparently has been taken already.
It's not like Elon Musk named his company Nikola Tesla. Tesla could be a last name of anyone but capitalizing on the first and last name of a hugely famous innovator and very well respected individual is just, in my opinion, poor taste.
There is a construction company around the Bay Area called "Disney Construction" but are in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Co. and do not try to be so it's different. Now if they were called Walt Disney Construction, you better believe there would be a lawsuit and they would likely lose!
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