Trademark squatters over common words are so out of control. A few years ago, I was threatened by Bond No. 9 owner Laurice Rahme's attorneys because I named one of my perfumes Riverside, and she claimed control over the name Riverside in fragrance due to her Riverside Drive. I simply changed the name to RiverCali.
Then another perfumer got heat from the same attorneys over the use of the word "Peace" in a perfume, because again, Rahme claimed the word was hers alone to use. If you google Anya's Garden, Rahme, trademark, you'll find many bloggers covered this issue. I didn't have the money or inclination to fight Rahme, but now the squatters fight is getting lots of press and money thrown at it.
Two folks with lots of money are going to battle, and the squatter lost the first round. Who in the heck thinks its reasonable to squat on the word "nude"? I have termed the word "squatter" for the omnivorous trademarker who, like those who squat on website registrations of the names of famous folks are deemed squatters. It's just wrong, IMHO.
What's next? "homme", "spring", etc., any and every common word in any language?
Anya McCoy founded the USA's first modern natural perfume line in 1991. Since then, she has nurtured and educated natural perfumers and hosts a discussion group for them. Anya is the Head Instructor at the Natural Perfumery Institute that she founded in 2007 to provide a professional course for perfumers. In 2006 she revived the Natural Perfumers Guild, a trade association. She is a recognized leader in the art and the 'go-to' person for anyone interested in natural perfume.
Seems like people are becoming a little unreasonable, since indeed these are common, everyday used words...It would have been something entirely different if it were a clever combination of words or a wordplay or something. But the point is...it's not!
ReplyDeleteUnreasonable. Nuisance-making. I hate them doing that!
ReplyDelete