Wild and ridiculous copyrights and trademarks that were denied (or still pending). Part 2 of 2

"The under-funded and over-extended United States Patent and Trademark Office does not have the resources to adequately evaluate the burgeoning number of applications, and too many low-quality patents are being issued as a result"

-Viet D. Dinh

In part one of this blog, we introduced the crazy and competitive world of trademarks and copyrights, many of which leave us scratching our head at their audacious or far-reaching nature. Maybe that's  because just about anyone can file a trademark online through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office site or by mail, which costs between $275 and $375. But having an attorney do it ensures it’s written up correctly and gives you the best chance of defending it against infringements and copycats in the future. Here is a good list of the wild and ridiculous patents, trademarks, and copyrights that were either denied or still pending:

Applied but denied:

The name Sarah Palin.

Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin applied to trademark her own name as a means to inhibit those who would try to make money off her likeness, a very common occurrence with celebrities and notable figures. However, Palin’s application was denied and sent back to her. The reason? She forgot to sign the paperwork. Oops!

19-0.

In 2008, The New England Patriots were heading to the Super Bowl after an undefeated season to that point, a perfect 18-0. They were cocky enough to submit an application for a trademark on 19-0, ostensibly assuming they would win the Super Bowl AND no other team had rights to go 19-0 and talk about it. They lost twice, as their application was denied AND they lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. The New York Post even clowned them by filing a trademark application on their behalf for “18-1.”

Three-peat.

Back in 1989, Pat Riley, then coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, trademarked this term as his epic teams marched toward a third straight title. The trademark was approved even though the Lakers fell short of three titles in a row. Years later, when Michael Jordan’s Bulls won three in a row two different times, the term Three-peat was used by broadcasters, in magazines and newspapers, and on plenty of t-shirts and merchandise. Guess who got paid? You guessed it – Pat Riley.

Donald Trump’s “You’re fired!”

The real estate mogul and leading man on the TV show “The Apprentice” filed to trademark his signature phrase, “You’re fired.” But The Donald was denied, not because people are fired every day, but because his rendition sounded too much like “You’re Hired,” an educational board game already trademarked.

Snooki.

Jersey Shore’s Snooki tried to patent her own nickname but it was denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, who ruled that a cartoon cat in a children’s book held the rights to “Snooki.”

Tweet.

Believe it or not, Twitter does not own the trademark for “Tweet.” The multi-billion dollar social media company did submit a trademark request but it was denied because of an earlier request by Twittad, a Twitter-based advertising service in 2008.

The noise of a Harley motorcycle engine.

The Harley Davidson motorcycle company actually tried to trademark the noise of their engine revving. But the “vroom vroom’ was denied, as they couldn’t prove it was significantly different than any other motorcycle engine.

A yellow smiley face.

In 2006, Walmart displayed the ultimate arrogance when they submitted trademark requests for their yellow smiley face logo, which means that no one in the world would be able to use a yellow smiley face without permission or royalty. Thankfully, the request was denied when the courts ruled it was public domain.

McDonald’s “Mc” on anything else.

McDonalds has a history of suing any other company who uses the “Mc” prefix in conjuction with food, as it did with McCoffee café in San Francisco and the Filipino fast food chain, MacJoy. But in 2009, they lost a trademark case against a Malaysian restaurant named “McCurry,” after Federal courts ruled that no one would reasonably confuse the two.

Still pending:

The name “Orange.”

Can you trademark a color? Syracuse University is trying just that, attempting to lock down the use of “Orange” as it pertains to sports teams. They applied in 2004 and 2006 with the outcome still pending, much to the chagrin of colleges in Tennessee and Florida who use the same term and color.

Footlong.

Subway, the popular sandwich chain, filed a trademark for the term “footlong.” They were so confident it was their intellectual property that they sent a cease-and-desist to two other eateries before they even were approved, a Coney Island hot dog shop and a general store in Iowa who were using the term. The general store fired back with a lawsuit and the whole matter is a big legal mess pending the outcome of their trademark.

App store.

Apple trademarked the term “app store,” even though the abbreviation refers to applications, not Apple. Amazon.com didn’t take kindly to that because they were using “App store” for actual apps with their Android phones so they went ahead and kept using it. Apple didn’t like that of course, and slammed them with a massive lawsuit.

“Best Coffee in America.”

Dunkin Donuts filed a patent for that accolade. Can you trademark a subjective opinion? We’ll find out, as it’s pending with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

“I’m just here so I don’t get fined.” 

Seattle Seahawk malcontent Marshawn Lynch filed to copyright his signature phrase from the Super Bowl media week, though it’s yet to be approved.

The crazy and competitive world of trademarks and copyrights. (Part 1 of 2)

In our Internet and digital age, intellectual property is a contentious and vital frontier, establishing true legal ownership for words, phrases, concepts, designs, and symbols. But the concept of copyrights and trademarks is nothing new to the United States, the land of invention and ingenuity. In fact, the right to legally copyright your work has been part of our Constitution since 1787.

However, just because that venerable right is written into the fabric of our law, it doesn’t mean people don’t try to abuse it. Every year, there are countless millions of applications submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, many of which are quickly denied for frivolity or because they’re just trying to cash in on someone else’s hard work or good name.

Jaia Thomas, an attorney in New York City who specializes in intellectual property rights for athletes and celebrities, weighs in on the necessity to protect a phrase, nickname, or likeness:

“It’s extremely important. One of the main reasons is for economic reasons. You don’t want other companies, other individuals, making a profit off of your name or your logo or your brand, so it’s extremely important for athletes to rush to secure all the IP [intellectual property] rights so others don’t make a profit off of them. It’s also good just in terms of brand building. As athletes start to build their brand it’s good to start to protect their individual property rights as soon as possible.”

Here are some of the craziest, most interesting, and downright bizarre copyrights and trademarks. In part 1 of this series we’ll highlight those that were approved, and part 2 will share the ones that are pending or have already been denied.

A few notable approved copyrights and trademarks:

The happy birthday song.

In the late 19th century, a little song with only six words started being sung to celebrate birthdays. Believe it or not, a subsidiary of Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. now holds the protected copyright on that song, raking in about $2 million a year in licensing fees off of ‘Happy Birthday to You.’ But they own the copyright until the year 2030, so don’t wait to sing it and blow out your candles.

The word “yup.”

Dave Hester, personality from A&E’s show, Storage Wars, trademarked his signature phrase, “Yuuup!” However, Hester’s Yup sounds a lot like rapper Trey Songz’s “Yuup!” which he uses in songs. The two improbably adversaries are locked up in a legal battle over their yups.

Let’s get ready to rumble!

Michael Buffer, the man who became a boxing announcing franchise based on his one phrase, “Let’s get read to rumble!” trademarked the term long ago. Reportedly, he’s made over $400 million worldwide on royalties and licensing.

Super Bowl.

The NFL wants you to watch a big game in February that rhymes with “Uper Troll,” they just don’t want you to say it. Actually, they don’t want businesses to use the name of their big game to advertise and cash in, so they trademarked it. They also want to fiercely protect the value of anything tied to the Super Bowl so companies will keep shelling out millions for commercial spots. Apparently, they really do enforce it, sending out thousands of preemptive cease and desist letters every season.

Living species.

An American corporation actually successfully trademarked a rare ayahuasca vine, a plant native to the Amazon rain forest and used for medical purposes. I’m pretty sure the people native to that area weren’t consulted or paid royalties.

Our DNA!

Incredibly, companies have already slapped copyright claims on about 20 percent of the gene sequencing we share as human beings. Some firms, like Myriad Genetics Inc., control the market by holding the trademark on genes that are linked to certain types of cancer, and make big bucks manufacturing drugs to treat it. The American Civil Liberties Union took issue, challenging  the copyright in 2010, with the backing of 150,000 scientists, but was shot down.

Law enforcement agencies.

A few police departments have sued for copyright infringement when outside companies were making money off their likeness. As any tourist can see in New York City, the NYPD logo and brand adorns t-shirts, mugs, and all sorts of other merchandise, none of which is sanctioned by the actual police department. But in 2005, the NYPD sued a pizza chain that was using their name and logo, and won.

Canada’s Royal Mounted Police have also trademarked their name and likeness so others don’t cash in without their permission.

“That’s hot!”

Paris Hilton received some great business advice a while ago when she trademarked her signature catchphrase, “That’s hot!” She even sued Hallmark when the greeting card giant started using the expression – and her image – on their cards in 2007.

Sounds on television and movies.

NBC has an approved trademark on the three-tone jingle you can hear to introduce its brand, and the lion’s roar is trademarked by MGM.

Facebook’s “Face” on other products and services.

The social media platform Facebook is so omnipotent that they trademarked the use of “Face” in conjunction with any other telecommunication products or services, stopping imitators from cashing in with putting out “Face-Mail,” “Face-Messaging,” etc. products.

A certain shade of orange.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups too exception that a competitor, Dove’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Promises, was using the same shade of orange in their packaging. So Reese’s applied to trademark that exact color – and was approved.

Linsanity.

When NBA player Jeremey Lin rose to overnight meteoric fame with the New York Kicks in 2010, the popular moniker “Linsanity” was quickly trademarked. The good news is that it was Lin himself who trademarked it, cashing in every time it was used for merchandising. By the way, Lin went to Harvard.

A Russian beard.

A Russian man named Mikhail Verbitsky actually trademarked his beard successfully, as he claimed it was a “racial attribute” specific to certain Russian ethnic groups.

An aroma.

A woman in California, Celia Clarke, had her trademark for a unique scent approved in 1990. Apparently, “a high-impact, fresh floral fragrance reminiscent of plumeria blossoms” is worth preserving from others sniffing around.

The word “Superhero.”

Marvel and DC Comics have co-owned the trademark for the word to describe their supernatural heroes since 1981.

“You cannot be serious.”

Tennis icon and bad boy John McEnroe copyrighted his signature phrase once he retired.

Anything and everything sports related.

Almost every notable athlete holds trademarks these days to try and protect their brand and open up a new revenue stream. Reggie Jackson has Mr. October, Johnny Manziel owns Johnny Football, Wayne Gretzky the Great One 99, Michael Jordan Flight 23 and His Airness, Lebron James holds King James, Tim Tebow holds the copyright on Tebowing and Usain Bolt owns the copyright on his signature lightning bolt pose, to name a few.