6 ms·

I was surprised to learn that the familiar "Kickstarter Staff Pick" badge can be used by any project and is sometimes an outright lie. That's ridiculously decep

I was surprised to learn that the familiar "Kickstarter Staff Pick" badge can be used by any project and is sometimes an outright lie. That's ridiculously deceptive.

MichaelGG 11y ago
That's very odd. Searching for "Kickstarter Staff Pick" seems to indicate that it actually is what it says it is. On the search page, https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recommended https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recommended , Staff Picks is a search criteria and has considerably less projects than "Everything". If their position is that anyone can use the image, why not take it a step further? Make a new badge, like "Kickstarter Verified Technology" or worse.
- tedunangst 11y ago
  The staffer appears to have misinterpreted the question. As I understand it, there are staff picks, but this doesn't result in getting badged automatically. Some projects elect to display a badge themselves. That's what the answer says. It's not responsive to the question of fake badges. Possibly it's a canned answer to "why isn't my staff pick project showing a badge?"
mcintyre1994 11y ago
This is ridiculous. Their home page has a 'Staff Picks' section currently showing 15 projects, 7 of them have that badge visible in their image there. It's stupidly misleading not to expect people to make that connection.
Mithaldu 11y ago
I don't understand how that isn't a huge trademark issue for kickstarter, since american trademarks are on the base of "protect it or lose it". Edit: To make it clear, here are some quotes from http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/LossofTrademarkRightsFactSheet.aspx http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/LossofT... : "it is possible to lose rights in a mark by allowing third parties to use the mark without controlling how it is used. This can include failing to control the nature and quality of the goods and/or services offered under the mark by the third party." "improper use by a trademark owner or third parties also may result in the loss of trademark rights. A trademark should not be used in a manner that strips its significance as an indicator of the source of goods and/or services." (emphasis mine)
- DanBC 11y ago
  You can only use it within the context of kickstarter projects. You can't use it if your crowdfunded project is not on kickstarter.
  - ILIKEPONIES 11y ago
    I know someone who is currently running a Kickstarter and who is also a 'Staff Pick.' As far as I understand, some (not all) campaigns receive an email at some point to congratulate them on being named a 'Staff Pick.' The email isn't 100% clear as to what being named a SP means. KS actually discourages the campaigns from putting up a badge, but many of the projects do anyway. There is little to no policing. So, my guess is that some projects use the badge regardless of whether or not they're a SP. Personally, I think they should formalize the process and bop the heads of those that are misrepresenting themselves.
- colinbartlett 11y ago
  The quote from Kickstarter, according to the author: "[The graphic] is not an official Kickstarter badge, nor is the badge granted by Kickstarter" Note that this doesn't necessarily say "we are okay with people using this." In fact, the quote could easily have gone on to say "people who use this are violating our trademark and we intend to pursue removal".
- pbhjpbhj 11y ago
  >american trademarks are on the base of "protect it or lose it" // Pertinent to the supposed "failure to police" please cite where that is in the USC, thanks. You have a trademark by virtue of use. You have a registered trademark by virtue of paying for the registration and continued payment of renewal fees. >To help avoid such adverse consequences, the trademark owner should police its mark by enforcing [...] While some courts have determined that a trademark owner need not necessarily prosecute every infringing third-party use of its mark, such third-party uses can still affect the distinctiveness of the mark in the mind of the public. [...] Sounds like they think you should rather than they determine that there's an actual "failure to police" clause in the USC. An additional aspect is that you can offer a license to any user you come across. So if "failure to police" were true you still would not need to prosecute people for infringements in order to retain the mark provided they agreed to your [as liberal as you like] license terms.
pmontra 11y ago
I don't understand why KS created that badge if it's self appointed and doesn't mean that the staff actually endorsed the project somehow. It looks like customer deception now, both from projects and KS.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

I was surprised to learn that the familiar "Kickstarter Staff Pick" badge can be used by any project and is sometimes an outright lie. That's ridiculously deceptive.

MichaelGG 11y ago

That's very odd. Searching for "Kickstarter Staff Pick" seems to indicate that it actually is what it says it is. On the search page, https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recommended https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recommended , Staff Picks is a search criteria and has considerably less projects than "Everything". If their position is that anyone can use the image, why not take it a step further? Make a new badge, like "Kickstarter Verified Technology" or worse.

tedunangst 11y ago
The staffer appears to have misinterpreted the question. As I understand it, there are staff picks, but this doesn't result in getting badged automatically. Some projects elect to display a badge themselves. That's what the answer says. It's not responsive to the question of fake badges. Possibly it's a canned answer to "why isn't my staff pick project showing a badge?"

mcintyre1994 11y ago

This is ridiculous. Their home page has a 'Staff Picks' section currently showing 15 projects, 7 of them have that badge visible in their image there. It's stupidly misleading not to expect people to make that connection.

Mithaldu 11y ago

I don't understand how that isn't a huge trademark issue for kickstarter, since american trademarks are on the base of "protect it or lose it". Edit: To make it clear, here are some quotes from http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/LossofTrademarkRightsFactSheet.aspx http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/LossofT... : "it is possible to lose rights in a mark by allowing third parties to use the mark without controlling how it is used. This can include failing to control the nature and quality of the goods and/or services offered under the mark by the third party." "improper use by a trademark owner or third parties also may result in the loss of trademark rights. A trademark should not be used in a manner that strips its significance as an indicator of the source of goods and/or services." (emphasis mine)

DanBC 11y ago
You can only use it within the context of kickstarter projects. You can't use it if your crowdfunded project is not on kickstarter.
- ILIKEPONIES 11y ago
  I know someone who is currently running a Kickstarter and who is also a 'Staff Pick.' As far as I understand, some (not all) campaigns receive an email at some point to congratulate them on being named a 'Staff Pick.' The email isn't 100% clear as to what being named a SP means. KS actually discourages the campaigns from putting up a badge, but many of the projects do anyway. There is little to no policing. So, my guess is that some projects use the badge regardless of whether or not they're a SP. Personally, I think they should formalize the process and bop the heads of those that are misrepresenting themselves.
colinbartlett 11y ago
The quote from Kickstarter, according to the author: "[The graphic] is not an official Kickstarter badge, nor is the badge granted by Kickstarter" Note that this doesn't necessarily say "we are okay with people using this." In fact, the quote could easily have gone on to say "people who use this are violating our trademark and we intend to pursue removal".
pbhjpbhj 11y ago
>american trademarks are on the base of "protect it or lose it" // Pertinent to the supposed "failure to police" please cite where that is in the USC, thanks. You have a trademark by virtue of use. You have a registered trademark by virtue of paying for the registration and continued payment of renewal fees. >To help avoid such adverse consequences, the trademark owner should police its mark by enforcing [...] While some courts have determined that a trademark owner need not necessarily prosecute every infringing third-party use of its mark, such third-party uses can still affect the distinctiveness of the mark in the mind of the public. [...] Sounds like they think you should rather than they determine that there's an actual "failure to police" clause in the USC. An additional aspect is that you can offer a license to any user you come across. So if "failure to police" were true you still would not need to prosecute people for infringements in order to retain the mark provided they agreed to your [as liberal as you like] license terms.

pmontra 11y ago

I don't understand why KS created that badge if it's self appointed and doesn't mean that the staff actually endorsed the project somehow. It looks like customer deception now, both from projects and KS.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]