A Calgary Agency Just Trademarked “Fake News” So Trump Can’t Use It Anymore

[ZiprHead]

https://www.narcity.com/news/ca/ab/calgary/fake-news-trademark-by-calgary-agency-makes-it-so-trump-cant-use-the-term

We assure you, this is not "fake news" — it really happened. Wax Partnership in Calgary and the Society of Professional Journalists launched a video and website earlier this week along with their campaign.

“How do you stop the incorrect use of the term 'fake news'? You trademark it,” reads the Fake News (™pending) website.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Think that will stop them??

Besides, don't you need to actually use your trademark in order to get protection?

 

[Trausti]

Idiots. That’s not how trademark works.

 

[Elixir]

Idiots. That’s not how trademark works.

Right. Not even in theory. In theory, you can trademark a word or phrase for a market application. In reality, the breadth of the protection provided depends entirely on the depth of your pockets and your willingness to dig into them to pay lawyers. Sending out cease and desist letters is easy. Obtaining judgments is not. So in the end it all comes down to the zeal of whoever holds the mark.

We once had a trademark for a product line - a made-up word that ended with "bak". It didn't take long for the Company who owns Camelbak™ to come after us, even though we were nowhere near the Camelbak™ market, and the word did not resemble "Camelbak" in any respect other than the last three letters. Our lawyers looked at it and discovered that the Camelbak™ mark holders had actually gone to bat against, among many others, a Vodka manufacturer who had put out a product with "bak" at the end. Per our lawyers, we - or the vodka people - would have won, but not until after spending hundreds of thousands or millions contesting it.