“ok” in what sense? The guy trademarked a symbol that is 2,500 years old, widely known, widely used, and generic, then filed suit over someone making a t-shirt with the generic symbol on it.
Maybe I should trademark the Ankh, and sue everyone who makes jewelry based on it.
Guys like this make my blood boil, I get irrationally angry over their interference with others who are just going about their business. On the plus side, I just remembered that I need to take by HBP medication. Thanks, Mr. Ingrisano, your lawsuit has done something good.
OK, in the sense that the registration seems prima facie valid (although it wouldn’t have been registerable in many countries, because it’s too simple). In any event, there is no requirement that a trademark be novel (that’s patents). Widely known, widely used and generic are aspects of trademark use, not trademark registration.
This is a valid concern, and I don’t think he’ll get far bringing suit against a prior user, when he doesn’t currently manufacture apparel under the pi trademark.
You think this is bad, look up Leo Stoller – Leo Stoller - Wikipedia – he has a history of filing so many bogus trademark claims that at one point a judge said that he wasn’t allowed to file any new complaints without the court’s permission.
Among other things, he claims blanket rights in the word “Stealth,” so he doesn’t even understand how trademark protection works.
By the way there’s nothing wrong in theory about a trademark comprising the Greek letter pi. It’s no different than any word, letter, or symbol. The question is how are you using it, is it distinctive, and other normal trademark questions.
Yeah. The fact that he filed the trademark on “pi plus a period” as a logo is not completely unreasonable. It’s the fact that he’s attempting to use this trademark to shut down anyone and everyone who has the Greek letter pi on any of their products that makes him a massive asshat.
His claim says pi followed by a period, but the cease-and-desist letter appears to apply to everything with just pi, not his trademarked claim. I hope Zazzle sues him for harassment.
Exactly. If Zazzle had been making t-shirts with a pi followed by a period, his suit would have merit. As it is, he’s just an asshole trying to be the Trademark equivalent of a Patent Troll.
For instance, there is a large computer company that uses the trademark “Apple”. That doesn’t mean they are allowed to sue anyone who uses the word apple, or that they now own all apples, or that no other company can use the word “Apple” in their name.
A trademark is just that, a trademark. It is an identifier under which someone does business. So Apple has a trademark on “Apple”, which means if you started a computer company and started selling computers under the name “Apple”, they could sue you. But if you grew apples and sold apples they couldn’t.
There are hundreds of companies that use the word “apple” in their name, and that does not violate Apple Computer’s trademark in any way.
The posters that have conflated the Trademark office with the patent office, and those people who ignore the stylization, font, etc, that makes the mark distinct.
Note that the second group apparently includes Douchebag J. Ingrisano and his lawyer.