Trademark Resolution: Postal Service To Promote The Postal Service

from the innovative dept

For all the stories we hear about ridiculous trademark lawsuits and cease & desist letters, here's an interesting twist. Copyfight is pointing to a NY Times article that talks about the innovative way the US Postal Service settled a trademark dispute with a band called Postal Service. After originally sending a cease & desist, the two sides worked out an agreement where the band would help promote the actual Postal Service, which also would help the USPS try to get a little more attention from that younger generation who doesn't quite see the need for the Postal Service. Of course, you could question why a cease & desist was needed at all. Was there anyone out there who would actually confuse a CD from a band for the actual United States Postal Service? It seems unlikely. But, if you believe that it really was a threat, maybe you'll also believe that teens and 20-year-olds will suddenly start rushing to the post office rather than sending email just because some music act says they should.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    DV Henkel-Wallace, 9 Nov 2004 @ 5:18am

    Could work...

    ...maybe you'll also believe that teens and 20-year-olds will suddenly start rushing to the post office rather than sending email just because some music act says they should.
    Hey, it works with useless shoes and other consumer items, why not the tragically unhip post office?

    Of course they could finish their shows by "going postal" and squirting the audience with super-soakers...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      James, 9 Nov 2004 @ 5:24am

      Re: Could work...

      They are a pretty cool band when it comes right down to it too. IMHO they have a few pretty good tracks anyway.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      watch what you say, 12 Jan 2007 @ 1:25pm

      Re: Could work...

      better watch what you say there, The Tragically Hip might be sending you a cease and desist letter for trademark violation ;)

      http://www.thehip.com/

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Nov 2004 @ 9:48am

    No Subject Given

    Wasn't Chicago Transit Authority forced to change its name by the actual CTA, 35 years ago? They subsequently recorded under the name Chicago.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Jan 2007 @ 12:32pm

    Organizations that don't defend their copyrights against all comers risk losing the ability to defend against any. You don't want to give a real infringer the ability to point to another case where you didn't take some action and accuse you of discriminatory conduct.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.