3 ms·

So, if I am misunderstanding, can you explain to me what happens if I have some sportswear that I sell which has the word "the" on it, written in capital letter

So, if I am misunderstanding, can you explain to me what happens if I have some sportswear that I sell which has the word "the" on it, written in capital letters? For example, sportswear that says "THE SPORTSBALL TEAM".

thefoyer 4y ago
Literally nothing
joshuamorton 4y ago
Nothing at all. It would be an issue if the shirt was only THE in all caps, and nothing else. And even then it might not be an issue if it were in pink and orange (although it still might). The analogy with npm works: thesportsballteam is a distinct package.
- ziddoap 4y ago
  The possibility that I can't put "THE", literally the most common word, on a hat or other sportswear sort of makes my point. Absolutely absurd trademark.
  - et2o 4y ago
    That's not true at all, though. Y9u can absolutely do that as long as it's not in red and grey and sold in places customary to collegiate athletics.
    - tzs 4y ago
      That's not quite correct. It's a word mark not a design mark so color does not matter. See [1] or [2]. [1] https://www.nbc4i.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/06/the.pdf https://www.nbc4i.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/06/th... [2] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88571984&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88571984&caseType=SERIAL_...
  - joshuamorton 4y ago
    Why? What reason would you have to put "THE" (and nothing else) on a piece of sportsware?
    - ziddoap 4y ago
      What does it matter?
      - joshuamorton 4y ago
        Because if the only reason is to impersonate or antagonize[*] Ohio State, the trademark makes sense! [*]: Fair use nonwidthstanding
  - tshaddox 4y ago
    No, it's not absurd, and you can still put the word "the" on clothing so long as consumers are not likely to mistake your products as originating from Ohio State University. Any sensationalist portrayal of this or any other trademark as "owning a word," or "owning a color," etc. completely misses the point of trademarks.
    - ziddoap 4y ago
      >you can still put the word "the" on clothing so long as consumers are not likely to mistake your products as originating from Ohio State University It feels like half the people replying here have never been the victim of over-zealous patent and/or trademark lawyers before. OSU just needs to sue whoever puts "THE" on whatever they want, claim that it will confuse people, and then the poor bloke who put "THE" on his coffee mug or whatever has to spend thousands of dollars proving to the courts that a coffee mug wont be confused with a football team. And of course it would never be confused for a football team. Yet, they still have to go through the motions, spend the money, or cease & desist. It happens frequently, frequently enough that there are lawyers specifically known for patent and trademark trolling!
      - tshaddox 4y ago
        Just make the arguments about fundamental problems with the legal system. This is a sensational portrayal of a specific trademark that riles people up because it involves an extremely common English word, but of course anyone who has read about trademarks for a few minutes knows that this is nothing at all like "owning the word 'the'" or "having the right to sue anyone who puts the word 'the' on any clothing."
tshaddox 4y ago
Almost certainly nothing, even if this university were to attempt to enforce its trademark against you. The legal test for trademark violations in the United States requires that consumers are reasonably likely to be confused about the origin of the product.
- ziddoap 4y ago
  The fact that they can attempt to enforce it is a big part of the problem. Frivolous trademark and patent lawsuits is a whole damn industry, built upon milking money out of people who cannot reasonably afford to go through an entire trademark/patent dispute without going bankrupt - so they either give up what could potentially be a completely valid use case, or pay some sort of licensing fee they don't need to.
  - tshaddox 4y ago
    Anyone can attempt to enforce anything against anyone, so I'm not quite sure what you mean. Of course frivolous lawsuits and asymmetrical legal costs is a general problem of many modern legal systems, and I'm fine with general arguments about this problem. But this is clearly being presented as some extreme ridiculous example of a bad trademark, when it's very much not.
    - ziddoap 4y ago
      >Any one can attempt to enforce anything against anyone, so I'm not quite sure what you mean. I mean that prior to the granting of this trademark, OSU could not send lawyers my way if I put "THE" on a hat. Now they can. >Of course frivolous lawsuits and asymmetrical legal costs is a general problem of many modern legal systems, and I'm fine with general arguments about this problem. General arguments are usually bolstered by specific examples. >But this is clearly being presented as some extreme ridiculous example of a bad trademark, when it's very much not. I find it worrisome that so many people think trademarking the word "THE" is somehow not a bad trademark. What the hell do you consider a bad trademark, if not just the word "the"?

thefoyer 4y ago

Literally nothing

joshuamorton 4y ago

Nothing at all. It would be an issue if the shirt was only THE in all caps, and nothing else. And even then it might not be an issue if it were in pink and orange (although it still might). The analogy with npm works: thesportsballteam is a distinct package.

ziddoap 4y ago
The possibility that I can't put "THE", literally the most common word, on a hat or other sportswear sort of makes my point. Absolutely absurd trademark.
- et2o 4y ago
  That's not true at all, though. Y9u can absolutely do that as long as it's not in red and grey and sold in places customary to collegiate athletics.
  - tzs 4y ago
    That's not quite correct. It's a word mark not a design mark so color does not matter. See [1] or [2]. [1] https://www.nbc4i.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/06/the.pdf https://www.nbc4i.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/06/th... [2] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88571984&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88571984&caseType=SERIAL_...
- joshuamorton 4y ago
  Why? What reason would you have to put "THE" (and nothing else) on a piece of sportsware?
  - ziddoap 4y ago
    What does it matter?
    - joshuamorton 4y ago
      Because if the only reason is to impersonate or antagonize[*] Ohio State, the trademark makes sense! [*]: Fair use nonwidthstanding
- tshaddox 4y ago
  No, it's not absurd, and you can still put the word "the" on clothing so long as consumers are not likely to mistake your products as originating from Ohio State University. Any sensationalist portrayal of this or any other trademark as "owning a word," or "owning a color," etc. completely misses the point of trademarks.
  - ziddoap 4y ago
    >you can still put the word "the" on clothing so long as consumers are not likely to mistake your products as originating from Ohio State University It feels like half the people replying here have never been the victim of over-zealous patent and/or trademark lawyers before. OSU just needs to sue whoever puts "THE" on whatever they want, claim that it will confuse people, and then the poor bloke who put "THE" on his coffee mug or whatever has to spend thousands of dollars proving to the courts that a coffee mug wont be confused with a football team. And of course it would never be confused for a football team. Yet, they still have to go through the motions, spend the money, or cease & desist. It happens frequently, frequently enough that there are lawyers specifically known for patent and trademark trolling!
    - tshaddox 4y ago
      Just make the arguments about fundamental problems with the legal system. This is a sensational portrayal of a specific trademark that riles people up because it involves an extremely common English word, but of course anyone who has read about trademarks for a few minutes knows that this is nothing at all like "owning the word 'the'" or "having the right to sue anyone who puts the word 'the' on any clothing."

tshaddox 4y ago

Almost certainly nothing, even if this university were to attempt to enforce its trademark against you. The legal test for trademark violations in the United States requires that consumers are reasonably likely to be confused about the origin of the product.

ziddoap 4y ago
The fact that they can attempt to enforce it is a big part of the problem. Frivolous trademark and patent lawsuits is a whole damn industry, built upon milking money out of people who cannot reasonably afford to go through an entire trademark/patent dispute without going bankrupt - so they either give up what could potentially be a completely valid use case, or pay some sort of licensing fee they don't need to.
- tshaddox 4y ago
  Anyone can attempt to enforce anything against anyone, so I'm not quite sure what you mean. Of course frivolous lawsuits and asymmetrical legal costs is a general problem of many modern legal systems, and I'm fine with general arguments about this problem. But this is clearly being presented as some extreme ridiculous example of a bad trademark, when it's very much not.
  - ziddoap 4y ago
    >Any one can attempt to enforce anything against anyone, so I'm not quite sure what you mean. I mean that prior to the granting of this trademark, OSU could not send lawyers my way if I put "THE" on a hat. Now they can. >Of course frivolous lawsuits and asymmetrical legal costs is a general problem of many modern legal systems, and I'm fine with general arguments about this problem. General arguments are usually bolstered by specific examples. >But this is clearly being presented as some extreme ridiculous example of a bad trademark, when it's very much not. I find it worrisome that so many people think trademarking the word "THE" is somehow not a bad trademark. What the hell do you consider a bad trademark, if not just the word "the"?