# What We Know About Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396 "2002-07-29T17:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/21 "2003-07-08T03:08:03Z")
Dude. Attorney/client privilege? Or some kind of confidentiality agreement w/ your former employer? Especially here. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/22 "2003-07-08T03:11:17Z")
You fools. You think Cecil is like Santa Claus. He’s more like a master ninja, skulking in shadows… May he smite all the nonbelievers. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/23 "2003-07-08T03:13:57Z")
I meant what you were saying in your first post, not the trademark thing, which has been posted here before (and is of course public record), btw. ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/24 "2003-07-08T03:16:38Z")
It ain’t attorney-client, nor is it confidential, if it is in the public files of the U.S.P.T.O. The interesting thing is that the Reader abandoned the trademark 3 years after filing it. Not sure why, unless maybe they decided to rely upon common law TM. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/25 "2003-07-08T04:39:33Z")
The link you posted has expired, **schplebordnik**. What terms did you search for to find the case? ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/26 "2003-07-08T04:47:18Z")
[www.uspto.gov](http://www.uspto.gov) Go to Trademarks Then Search Then Advanced Search Search for “Cecil & Adams” It’s Application S/N 73631921 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/27 "2003-07-08T05:05:32Z")
Ah, okay, I did find that bit. I was expecting to see something about the case you mentioned. I get it now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/28 "2003-07-08T05:16:47Z")
I don’t know if there was a formal litigation, which means there wouldn’t be a published decision or records of a complaint filed. So there may be no records other than the TM filing (which doesn’t necessarily support everything I said – just that the Reader tried to trademark the name Cecil Adams and acknowledged that it wasn’t intended to indicate a single individual). Interestingly, there is a record of the USPTO proceedings here: [http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=73631921](http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=73631921) The TM was denied, that was appealed, and the denial was upheld. My guess is that denial was based upon the mark being the name of a person. The file (if anyone chose to order it, and it was still available), might be enlightening. The Reader may have filed some evidence to the effect that the mark wasn’t associated with any one person. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/29 "2003-07-08T05:35:18Z")
1. He once [almost knocked out the side of a building with an overhead crane](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_402b.html). ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/30 "2003-07-08T11:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by schplebordnik \* > \*\*“Cecil” is not a person, but a trademark of the Chicago Reader. There has been more than one “Cecil.” (sort of like there has been more than one “Ann Landers”). I worked for the law firm that represented a former “Cecil” who tried to take the name with him when he left the Reader. He lost. > > I’ll look around to see if I can find a cite, but I think the case was settled before any litigation transpired. \*\* So he’s like the Dread Pirate Cecil taking no prisoners in his attacks on ignorance. As you wish. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/31 "2003-09-23T01:35:28Z")
Cecil is timeless. Cecil is ageless. Cecil shall live forever. In Cecil we trust. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/32 "2003-09-23T01:47:25Z")
Cecil is a sad judge of baseball teams…being a White Sox fan. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/33 "2003-09-23T01:57:47Z")
However, the fact that he’s a White Sox fan suggests that Cecil grew up on the South Side of Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/34 "2003-09-23T03:04:29Z")
The baddest side of town. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/35 "2003-09-23T03:06:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*Oh, I forgot this as well. > > He seems to look down on the simplistic answers of David Feldman, who writes those (IMHO) pathetic “Why do Clocks run Clockwise?” books. \*\* I have a couple of those and I think they’re neat reads. In fact, before I knew better, I was going to write to Cecil and ask him if he ever wrote those books, because at the time I swore they were printed in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/36 "2003-09-23T03:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whitetho \* > **"He has been written up in the _Wall Street Journal_ and _People_ and has appeared on the _Today_ show…" ([sic]–we all know of course that Cecil _never_ makes personal appearances** Someone purporting to be Cecil appeared on an early episode of NBC’s _Late Night with David Letterman_. I watched the interview, but can’t remember any of the particulars, although I do recall Letterman acting suspicious of the guy and suggesting that no individual could know so much about so many different subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/37 "2003-09-23T03:46:59Z")
His family has a history of [epilepsy](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_408.html): > [@](#): > > I don’t want to exaggerate the danger, but several members of Cecil’s family suffer from epilepsy, and one once had a seizure while cruising down the highway at 60 MPH. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/38 "2003-09-23T04:05:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by schplebordnik \* > I worked for the law firm that represented a former “Cecil” who tried to take the name with him when he left the Reader. He lost._\* _When_ did you workd for the law firm? _When_ did the suit supposedly take place? ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/39 "2003-09-23T04:28:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \* > \*\*Someone purporting to be Cecil appeared on an early episode of NBC’s _Late Night with David Letterman_. I watched the interview, but can’t remember any of the particulars, although I do recall Letterman acting suspicious of the guy and suggesting that no individual could know so much about so many different subjects. \*\* I think I remember this. An audience member asked “Cecil” how to keep squirrels off her deck (He didn’t know the answer). ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/40 "2003-09-23T05:26:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by schplebordnik \* > \*\*“Cecil” is not a person, but a trademark of the Chicago Reader. There has been more than one “Cecil.” (sort of like there has been more than one “Ann Landers”). I worked for the law firm that represented a former “Cecil” who tried to take the name with him when he left the Reader. He lost. > > I’ll look around to see if I can find a cite, but I think the case was settled before any litigation transpired. \*\* :mad: :mad: :mad: **YOU SHUT UP!!! YOU SHUT UP WITH YOUR FILTHY WHORE LIES!!!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396.md?page=3)