TSA Accused Of Trademark Infringement

from the sovereign-rights... dept

Mon, Mar 30th 2009 2:09pm — Mike Masnick

JJ sends in the rather amusing news that the TSA's SimpliFLY promotional campaign (which only existed during the 2007 holiday season) may actually violate the trademark of the Salt Lake City International Airport, which uses the term for its telephone help line. From the details, it seems pretty clear this is a pure money grab by the SLC airport, as the marketing director seems quite clear that filing a lawsuit against the TSA was just a way to begin "negotiations." Of course, SLC may find that it has an uphill road to climb, as it needs to explain how the TSA was using the term "in commerce" to show that it's a trademark violation. In the meantime, folks in the marketing department at SLC airport may find that they need to go through a bit of extra scrutiny next time they go through airport security.

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Filed Under: salt lake city international airport, simplifly, trademark infringement, tsa

12 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2009 @ 2:49pm

wait a sec ... they are filing a trademake claim against a service that was only used during the 2007 holiday season?? So after 18 months of non-existance they are bringing a suit. I fail to see how they still have a claim. Sometimes I really want to go to law school just to be able to understand the logic these people use to file these sort of claims.
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- Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2009 @ 6:14pm
  
  Re:
  The first registration for a trademark is for six years. It was registered in 2005, so it is owned until 2011.
  
  If you want to understand logic, how about the failure of logic to go to the USPTO web site to do a simple, five or ten minute search to see if a term is a registered trademark, or even an internet search?
  
  Sometimes I really want to go to stupidity school just to be able to understand the lack of logic these people use to get themselves into these sorts of trouble.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2009 @ 5:26am
    
    Re: Re:
    Oops...I did (or more precisely, did not do) exactly what so many other posters on this web site tend to do: Check sources.
    
    It turns out that Salt Lake City International Airport never registered their trademark. Oops. Apparently Salt Lake City is also no longer using the term SimpliFLY. Guess what? No use, no registration, no case. I can see why TSA is ignoring them. Hopefully a judge will dispose of this case quickly.
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GeneralEmergency (profile), 30 Mar 2009 @ 2:52pm

Cue deep announcer voice....
"And now...another episode of "Cavity Search Theater" brought to you by the good folks at the TSA and Johnson and Johnson."
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Paul Brinker, 30 Mar 2009 @ 3:28pm

No Fly List
What do you mean all my staff cant go to work because there names are now on the no fly list. How are we supost to file this lawsuit when we cant even go to work?

Suing the people who do your security is not a vary good idea, you might be labeled a "terrorist"
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2009 @ 3:43pm

i really want to see Weird Harold's opinion on this.
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Wayne Myer (profile), 30 Mar 2009 @ 3:53pm

Considering the State of SLC...
...it's not a surprise they are trying to make a grab for money. I had a transfer there four weeks ago and the airport was in an awful state: dirty, poorly laid out, construction projects that look like they were abandoned halfway, torn seats in the waiting areas, unheated corridors and jetways, filthy bathrooms.

Easily the worst airport I have ever experienced. I'd rather spend a day in Grand Central Station than an hour in SLC.
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- Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2009 @ 3:59pm
  
  Re: Considering the State of SLC...
  Um, have you see the girls who walk through Grand Central Station? And the food court is pretty good too... so that's kind of a no brainer. Grand Central vs almost any airport!
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 30 Mar 2009 @ 6:20pm

Hrm.
TSA may not be a commercial entity, but their 'market' (or at least a portion of it) is the same as that of SLC's. Confusion could easily result.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2009 @ 8:36pm

SimpliFLY? Sounds familiar to me...oh yeah, it is the corporate tagline of Deccan Airlines, an India-based budget airline that's been around since 2003.

www.livemint.com/2007/09/12002739/Air-Deccan-now-set-to-be-renam.html
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2009 @ 5:30am
  
  Re:
  Deccan Airlines, now known as Kingfisher Red, would have no standing with respect to a dispute between Salt Lake City International Airport and TSA. Kingfisher Red never registered Simplifly in the U.S. Neither is their name well known outside India, and would not have been well known at the time that Salt Lake City International Airport was running their SimpliFLY campaign, from 2003-2007.
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