Godzilla Takes On Comcast Over Trademark

from the this-should-be-fun dept

Tue, Aug 11th 2009 2:48am — Mike Masnick

We all know that Monster Cable has a long history of being overly aggressive when it comes to trademarks, but it's not the only trademark "monster" out there. Apparently, Toho, the owners of the trademark on the monster Godzilla are equally, if not more aggressive. In Godzilla's latest battle, he's not taking on Mothra, but Comcast. Apparently, Comcast is running some sort of ad campaign for "Comcast Town" which looks sorta like its own version of Sim City. But within this Town, there's a monster that will sometimes stop by and destroy things... and (yup) that monster bears a passing resemblance to Godzilla, and Toho is not happy. And, apparently, you don't want to make Godzilla's lawyers angry (yes, mixing fictional angry character tag lines here...). Comcast, for its part, denies that the character is Godzilla, though Toho doesn't buy it. Of course, you might ask where's the actual "harm" here, as it would seem to only help advertise Godzilla and Godzilla movies -- though, Toho would likely argue that the harm is in Comcast not licensing the character (or the potential idea that this makes Godzilla "generic").

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

Filed Under: comcast town, godzilla, trademark
Companies: comcast, toho

26 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2009 @ 4:55am

You know... as long as Comcast gets the smack down... it's worth it. After their crappy service for the last 5 years, I'm not going to defend them for a second.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nunyo, 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:03am

Godzilla is pissed
When Godzilla signed his deal with Toho, he was given no reason to believe that his label would work so hard to stifle the promotion of his character and work. While on hiatus he has found and retained a team of Velociraptors with law degrees. They'll soon be filing suit against Toho in West Texas.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BOC, 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:11am

Oh No
There goes Tokyo

Godzilla !
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Matt, 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:18am

Maybe They could make it more obvious
Why doesn't Comcast just slap a HUGE flashing logo at the bottom that says "This is NOT GODZILLA!" Then the public, and Toho Would quickly understand this is some other giant green city crushing monster
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dave (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:21am

Raymond Burr smokes a pipe and says...
"Yes, I see."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:27am

Re: Oh No
They say he's got to go,

Go, go, Godzilla!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
pegr, 11 Aug 2009 @ 5:59am

Upon consideration of the work in question...
That's Godzilla, no doubt about it. That, or his evil twin.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
technomage (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:04am

Have to disagree with you on this one mike...
I am going to have to back ToHo on this one. You ask where is the actual "harm"? How about the fact that Comcast has a less than favorable reputation. ToHo, like most businesses only want their products associated with the best representatives. If they didn't do this, then it *could* look like an endorsement of ToHo for Comcast. Which, in my opinion, could do some great harm to Godzilla's Image. The harm is not in being displayed, but with who you are associated with.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:07am

Re: Re: Oh No
and Gadzoooooooooooooooki
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:09am

So hard to keep my hippie morals when someone attacks Comcast...urge....arrrrgh! I can't help it... NOOOOOOOOOO....

Smash them Toho! Smash them good!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Falindraun (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:13am

Re: Upon consideration of the work in question...
...evil? If godzilla is not the evil twin I would hate to see what the evil twin does to a city.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Luke Stackwalker, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:16am

Re: Upon consideration of the work in question...
So that would be his evil twin MoZilla so that monster can get in on the action too!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Robert Ring (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:17am

Re: Have to disagree with you on this one mike...
Actually, I'm going to have to agree with technomage here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Luke Stackwalker, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:18am

Re: Godzilla is pissed
I thought it was in East Texas, do they just do patents and the TM stuff goes west?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hegemon13, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:33am

More than a passing resemblance
Comcast can deny it all they want, but that is a lot more than a passing resemblance. If it was just a big green dragon/dinosaur, it would be one thing, but this even has the signature Godzilla back plates (or whatever you want to call those spiky things sticking up from his spine). I can certainly see the argument that this makes the character generic.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nunyo, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:39am

Re: Re: Godzilla is pissed
If you go far enough East, you'll find yourself in the West.

All kidding aside, I do believe that you're right, I stand corrected.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:40am

Re: Re: Upon consideration of the work in question...
"...evil? If godzilla is not the evil twin I would hate to see what the evil twin does to a city."

Isn't the evil twin supposed to be the exact opposite? Wouldn't that mean Godzilla's evil twin is volunteering with habitat for humanity?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sailingmaster (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 6:54am

ummm...
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the purpose behind the lawsuit was to ensure that Toho wasn't seen as being connected to Comcast. I know if I was an executive at Toho, I'd be screaming bloody murder at legal to stop Comcast.

Comcast has abysmal customer service and the ethics of a 14 year old crack whore. I don't blame Toho in the slightest.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
AC, 11 Aug 2009 @ 7:00am

Re: Have to disagree with you on this one mike...
I agree with technomage as well. It looks just like Godzilla and looks to be doing what Godzilla is typically doing while on the job.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MCS, 11 Aug 2009 @ 7:15am

Re: Have to disagree with you on this one mike...
Well said,

I agree completely.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Evil Bastard (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 7:16am

It's Not Godzilla
It's Gojira!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dustin, 11 Aug 2009 @ 7:41am

Re: Maybe They could make it more obvious
Reminds me of that scene from Austin Powers in Goldmember:

Guy1: Run, it's Godzilla!
Guy2: It looks like Godzilla, but due to international copyright laws, it's not.
Guy1: Still we should run like it is Godzilla.
Guy2: Though it isn't.

Hah, looking at the youtube video Guy2 is Hiro from Heroes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2009 @ 8:32am

Re:
You obviously haven't been a Charter customer. Comcast is wonderful compared to them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hiro Nogano (profile), 11 Aug 2009 @ 4:12pm

It's more than just Comcast
I believe Toho "retired" Godzilla a few years ago for at least a decade. Given all the licensing deals Toho has with various toy manufacturers and such (most of whom were told to stop production on anything new) they may have to pursue this to just avoid being sued by their licensees.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
kevjohn (profile), 12 Aug 2009 @ 6:37am

Re: Have to disagree with you on this one mike...
I'm in total agreement with you and pegr up there. Mike is a bit off on this one. That doesn't "bear a passing resemblance to Godzilla", that IS that MFer!! Next up for Comcast advertising: The Beetuls, starring Jon, Pau, Jorge, and Rengo.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ikegami, 14 Aug 2009 @ 3:10pm

Re: Godzilla is pissed

When Godzilla signed his deal with Toho, he was given no reason to believe that his label would work so hard to stifle the promotion of his character and work.

Your pronoun usage is incorrect. Godzilla is a female.
[ link to this | view in thread ]