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‘Lord Of The Wings’ Food Truck Trademark In New Zealand Defeated By Tolkien Estate
(www.techdirt.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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In dilution, confusion literally is the issue. The point is: literally fucking nobody would be confused.
Just ask Apple Music how well that went fighting Apple Computers for 40 fucking years or so.
It ended with Apple Music putting all the Beatles music catalogue on iTunes.
Nobody was ever confused about Apple Music and Apple Computers.
Just like nobody would be confused by this, considering it has no relation to LOTR other than a name.
Well, I'm only familiar with US law on the subject. NZ might see things differently.
But in the US, dilution of a famous mark doesn't necessarily mean confusion. For example, you couldn't use Apple's famous white apple logo even for a company that had nothing to do with technology.
This isn't about logos though. This is about the name of the company, which is why I referenced two companies with similar names who had never been confused.
Because yes it's more easy to be confused if it's got a trademarked corporate logo somewhere it's not supposed to be.
It's not as easy to be confused just because the names are similar. Nobody was going to show up to Lord of the Wings thinking that it was a JRR Tolkein property when the only thing that came close to referencing it was the name, and the name alone.
It's not like the Elves offered the Hobbits fucking chicken wings instead of lembas.
Trademarks include words, phrases, and symbols.
And this trademark is a phrase, which is not easily confused with another phrase, when taken in context.
Are you being willfully fucking obtuse? We're not talking about other trademarks we're talking about this situation.
If you want to go discuss the entirety of trademark law, go for it, somewhere else, please. This is a conversation about a specific incident, which specifically doesn't include logos and symbols. It uses a phrase that clearly isn't confusing in respect to LOTR.
The wing truck wasn't going to have an effigy of the Hobbits on Mt Doom on it. Literally only the name even came close to referencing it. It's a joke of a trademark dispute and you know it.
As I've been trying to explain, confusion is not the only basis for a trademark claim.
No. And I have no interest in discussing this with you further if you can't do so respectfully.