Intel Lawyers Again Go Too Far In Trademark Bullying
from the back-it-down dept
Chip giant Intel has a bit of a reputation for being a trademark bully at times, threatening or suing many companies just for having "intel" in their name somewhere -- including a travel agency and a jeans company. Now, before anyone brings it up, yes, as a trademark holder the law requires you to enforce your trademark against infringement, lest it become considered "generic" (such as xerox machines, kleenex tissues, aspirin and other brand names that became generic). But, the key in all of those generic situations was that the use was applied to things that directly competed with the original brand's products. People referred to other tissues as "kleenex" and it stuck. Intel's lawyers seem to go out of their way to find potential infringement where there obviously is none at all.Paul Alan Levy alerts us to the latest such case, where Intel has sued the operators of the Mexico Watch newsletter, because its domain is LatinIntel.com. Of course, the reason for that is that it is using the commonly accepted abbreviation of "intel" as short for "intelligence." It's common shorthand, especially within government circles, to refer to gathered intelligence as simply "intel." The owners of the site explained this to Intel, and in return were given a boilerplate explanation about trademark law, insisting that since Intel's trademark is so valuable, it still has to stop others from using it -- even if they're in a totally different business, which is an interesting interpretation of trademark law, and one not supported by the courts in most cases.
More importantly, no one is going to look at LatinIntel.com and confuse it for the world's largest computer chip maker. No one is going to look at that site and wonder how come they can't order a Centrino processor. There's simply no confusion at all. Even worse, it appears that Intel's lawyers dragged out this situation far too long. They first contacted the site back in 2007, and the site's owner responded with a clear explanation of why the name was not infringing. Since then, there have been periodic bursts of contact from different Intel lawyers (it apparently seems to change each time), followed by months of silence, before a new group of lawyers starts pestering the site again. Finally, after more than two years of this back and forth, Intel sued Mexico Watch, even though it's not even close to competitive and any "moron in a hurry" (as the popular trademark test notes) would clearly know the difference between a site about Mexican politics and a company selling microprocessors.
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
Intel Lawyers
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Centrino processor
http://www.intel.com/Centrino/
Intel do muddy the waters by calling it "Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology", but it is definately more than just the processor.
To be Centrino certified you need an Intel processor, chipset and wireless card. Exactly what hardware you need depends on the version of Centrino. EG, Intel® Centrino® 2 requires a Intel® Core™2 Duo processor or Intel® Core™2 Quad processor, Mobile Intel® 4 Series Express Chipset Family and Intel® WiFi Link 5000 Series.
From http://download.intel.com/products/centrino/316944.pdf.
Sorry
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kleenex is not generic...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Kleenex is not generic...
Want a kleenex? I hear they kleen well.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Kleenex is not generic...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Kleenex is not generic...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Kleenex is not generic...
Let's try sanity check on definitions:
From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Kleenex, we learn that Kleenex is a trademarked name for a facial tissue. Okay, no generic there.
From http://www.answers.com/topic/kleenex, we learn that (shock!) Kleenex is a trademarked name for facial tissues.
From http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/Kleenex we learn that Kleenex is a trademark, used for paper tissue.
That was the first three sites on my Google search. Would you care to point to the dictionary that claims it is generic?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I Was Confused
As soon as I heard “Mexico watch”, I thought it sounded like “Microsoft Watch” website, which covers the world’s biggest maker of software for Intel processors. As for “LatinIntel”, I immediately thought of “Latin lovers”, and there are indeed many people who just LOVE Intel and Microsoft.
So I agree, there is definitely a confusing similarity here, and Intel’s lawyers are justified in putting a stop to it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I Was Confused
So I agree, there is definitely a confusing similarity here, and Intel’s lawyers are justified in putting a stop to it.
I now understand where the MORON part of moron in a hurry comes from...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I Was Confused
By your logic, Google owes billions of dollar to utube.com. And people were amazed that where can they place order for 33mm pipes on youtube.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I Was Confused
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I Was Confused
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I Was Confused
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
oh, boy
their processors arent even good enough to warrant their behavior. (not trying to troll by the way)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
a: intel centrino 2.1Ghz
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Abundant examples
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Abundant examples
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Intel Lawyers Again Go Too Far In Trademark Bullying..
Just do what I do.. Use AMD, Nvidia, and VIA processors.
;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Intel Lawyers Again Go Too Far In Trademark Bullying..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Intel Lawyers Again Go Too Far In Trademark Bullying..
Just do what I do.. Use AMD, Nvidia, and VIA processors.
;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lawyers...
The lawyers are on the payroll of Intel. If they don't do things like this, they can't justify their cushy job on Intel's payroll.
Now, they can say "See, I'm protecting your trademark! See how valuable I am! Without me, people would be confusing you with Latin Intelligence..."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dove soap and Dove chocolate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Dove soap and Dove chocolate
Speaking of confusion, U.S. trademark law was founded on the basis of unfair competition. There are numerous references to sailcloth manufacturers approaching Thomas Jefferson, lobbying him to pass a trademark law to prevent unfair competition from sailcloth manufacturers putting names of competitors on their products.
The trademark act of 1905 replace the "intent to deceive" language of the previous trademark act, related to unfair competition, with "likelihood of consumer confusion," effectively changing the original intent of trademarks in U.S. law.
However, someone finally woke up and realized that though consumer confusion was a potential risk, unfair competition still remained an issue, so the Lanham Act of 1946 restored the original concept of unfair competition, this time spelling it out for those who failed to realize that "intent to deceive" was related first to unfair competition and second to the potential for consumer confusion.
Indeed, the whole "consumer confusion" portion of trademark law, introduced in 1905, effectively exited trademark law after the Dilution Act of 1996, which said that marks could become so famous that any usage of the marks would evoke the name of the famous company. Thus, Disney and Coca-Cola or Coke will never be gracing the name of very many products that are not directly owned or licensed by Disney and Coca-Cola.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Dove soap and Dove chocolate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kleenex may have "stuck," but it is not generic...
"People referred to other tissues as "kleenex" and it stuck."
Well, guess what. Many people refer to copyright infringement as "stealing," and it definitely has stuck, probably by about the same number of people who incorrectly refer to Puffs brand facial tissues as "Kleenex."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Kleenex may have "stuck," but it is not generic...
Kimberly-Clark and competitors are in the same place. While consumers recognize the difference between Kleenex brand facial tissues and numerous competitors (the reason the trademark exists - it may be mildly generic in common use, but the brand recognition remains one of the strongest in the world, allowing Kimberly-Clark to keep their trademark), consumers have often used "Kleenex" to refer to any facial tissue. Kimberly-Clark and competitors are trying very hard to improve brand recognition to enhance the difference between Kleenex and other brands.
Think about it. The wife asks the husband to get a box of Kleenex at the store. Does the husband buy Scott's facial tissues or Kleenex brand facial tissues? I opt for the Kleenex. She asked for Kleenex, she gets Kleenex brand facial tissues.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lawyers, guns, money ... but mainly lawyers
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]