Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Two trademark tidbits from my recent trip to Spain.

First, I wouldn’t call it a full-blown trademark safari, but I did come across this restaurant in Barcelona. The Tarantino pizza restaurant with images from Quintin Tarantino’s movies probably wouldn’t fly in the States — unless, of course, Mr. Tarantino owned the restaurant or agreed to be associated with it. 

Not exactly Jack Rabbit Slim’s: Barcelona’s Tarantino pizza restaurant.
Gotta love the soccer game on TV in the background. (Photo by STL)

Second, here are the slides from my presentation on trade dress protection of software at the Transnational IP Seminar — geared to American and European law students interested in patent law, jointly produced by the University of Washington’s Center for Advanced Study and Research on Intellectual Property and the University of Alicante’s International Project on Intellectual Property and Information Technology.

Spoiler alert: if it’s not evident in the slides, trade dress protection of software is thin. You’re better off protecting your work through copyright or a design patent, assuming you qualify for such protection.

On March 21, Evan Conklin Plumbing and Heating Inc. filed a trademark infringement suit in the Western District against Chaz Timblin.

Both parties are plumbing companies. From Seattle.

Plaintiff calls itself “Seattle Plumbing Company.” Defendant’s company calls itself “Seattle Plumbing and Sewer.”

You guessed it: plaintiff’s complaint alleges that “Defendants’ SEATTLE PLUMBING & SEWER is confusingly similar to Plaintiff’s SEATTLE PLUMBING COMPANY mark.”

Plaintiff also alleges its mark is registered on the Supplemental Register and is inherently distinctive. ‘Nuff said.

The case cite is Evan Conklin Plumbing and Heating Inc. v. Timblin, No. 11-483 (W.D. Wash.).

Confusion no longer: Mars Hill Church and Mars Hill Graduate School,
which plans to change its name. Photo credit: The Seattle Times

The Christian Mars Hill Graduate School is tired of being confused with the Mars Hill Church.

They’re both named after the hill in Athens where Paul, one of the Apostles, is believed to have spoken about being saved through Jesus.

So, the Graduate School is changing its name.

Fitting they’re the ones to change, as they apparently came to town a year after the church opened its doors.

The Seattle Times wrote about this today.

A couple of thoughts. First, names — also known as trademarks — are important. When perspective students think the more liberal Graduate School is run by the more conservative Church, that’s not good for anyone (including the Church). In this case, the school believes it’s worth it to abandon the goodwill it has built up in its brand in favor of a yet-to-be-determined name that doesn’t have any confusion baggage.

Second, common trademarks are weak. The Church in this case might have had a hard time forcing the Graduate School to change in light of the many Mars Hills out there in the religious world. If it had picked a more unique name, injunctive relief would have been a slam dunk.

Finally, all this could have been avoided. The Graduate School probably knew about the Church and decided to use the Mars Hill name anyway. But it’s surprising how often even sophisticated parties adopt a name before undertaking the due diligence that such an investment justifies. Sometimes, it works out. Other times, they get sued. 

Lots of those suits result in a name change, which as the Graduate School will soon be able to tell you, can be expensive, disruptive, and painful.

Mystery location. Hint: it’s sunny!

Tomorrow, I’m going here to speak about software trade dress protection as part of this.

See you in two weeks!

Photo credit: Zarkos

King County prosecutors filed charges against a Seattle man accused of selling fake handbags.

The Seattle police collected 33,700 items from proprietor Touray Burama’s home. He allegedly ran EB’s Fine Handbags in south Seattle.

According to the Seattle-PI: “(An undercover officer) asked the worker [at EB’s] if the handbag on the wall was a ‘Kate Spade,’ investigators said in search warrants filed in U.S. District Court. The worker stated that the handbag was in fact a ‘Kate Spade’ and that he could sell it to her. However, he needed to sew on a ‘Kate Spade’ logo for her.”

Seems like that might be a tip-off the bags weren’t real. You mean you don’t put the Rolls Royce hood ornament on until after I buy the car?

Apparently Mr. Burama sold a few bags in his time. The P-I says the cops picked up $180,000 in its sweep, which Mr. Burama forfeited to the federal government. He’s now facing charges for counterfeiting.