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>an article titled "A British Super Hero" in a 1918 newspaper trademark does not work like patents, prior art is not a thing. The question is whether anyone el
by fsckboy 2y ago
>an article titled "A British Super Hero" in a 1918 newspaper
trademark does not work like patents, prior art is not a thing. The question is whether anyone else uses the mark in trade, exchanging money for goods/services. Usage outside of that context does not matter.
you get diluted and lose your trademark when the public uses the term generically in trade, in your line of business, and not in reference to your product, not just because they use the term.
for example, the automobile Mercury Comet is named after two generic things, a Greek god and an space body. So what, they are used in trade for particular automobiles.
Comet is also the name of a cleaning product. The two are not in the same line of business, so they don't get confused, and there is no conflict, but you can't start selling another Comet cleaner, or Comet car.
While there is no prior art, there is prior use, in trade. But in that case, the trademark belongs to the prior user, not to the world at large. If the prior user stops using it, like Aunt Jemima is no longer used for pancake syrup, then the term becomes free for anybody to use for pancake syrup. (I'll bet that company still uses that name for some pancake syrup product, like for institutional use, so they can stop anybody else from using it.)
- em-bee 2y agoI'll bet that company still uses that name for some pancake syrup product a related story: in many european countries the product "twix" was named "raider", until some day they decided to unify the brand and rename it to twix. but apparently, every few years they sell a batch under the old name "raider" presumably just so they can keep the trademark.
- zimpenfish 2y ago> apparently, every few years they sell a batch under the old name "raider" presumably just so they can keep the trademark. Oh, I wonder if that's why Mars are doing a limited run of "Snickers" named as "Marathon". https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/20/mars-brings-marathon-name-back-uk-snickers-bar-nostalgia https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/20/mars-brings...
- prmoustache 2y agoI think it is more to trigger some nostalgia induced sales from those who were kids in the 80's. Despite the renaming we used to call the raiders for years as teenagers in the 90's
- acdha 2y agoI think that’s the other side of the same theory: the reason it’s worth owning as a trademark is that millions of people remember it. Keeping it alive is cheap as long as the cost of printing labels is lower than the profits from a limited run.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago> If the prior user stops using it, like Aunt Jemima is no longer used for pancake syrup, then the term becomes free for anybody to use for pancake syrup. You know, I never thought of that. I kind of wonder why nobody has thought to revive those trademarks and take the market that the company had built up. I don't really believe that you would have enough pushback (because some people find the trademark offensive) to make it not worth one's while to get an instant market for their competing pancake syrup.
- olddustytrail 2y ago> the automobile Mercury Comet is named after two generic things, a Greek god and an space body Roman god. The Greek version would be Hermes.