How Trademark Law Is Supposed To Work: Groupon Sues Australian Clone That Tried To Squat Groupon Name
from the likelihood-of-confusion dept
While we've talked a lot about abusive trademark lawsuits that are more about attacking competitors or hindering speech, the core concept (which has since been significantly stretched) still does make some sense: it works as a form of consumer protection, to stop consumers from being fooled into believing, say, that Bob's Cola, is really Coca Cola -- a well known brand that they trust. When I saw a headline that Groupon had filed a lawsuit against a clone, I was worried that it would be an attack on a competitor (of which there are many). However, it appears that Groupon is still leaving most of the many, many clones out there alone. It's filed this particular lawsuit against Scoopon because the company tried to swipe the Groupon name in Australia. Not only did it register Groupon.com.au, it also registered its company name as Groupon Pty Limited and applied for the trademark on Groupon in Australia. That seems like a clear case of a company trying to confuse the public into believing it's the original Groupon, and a perfectly reasonable situation for using trademark law.
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Sad
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what trademark
US trademark law doesn't apply worldwide.
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Re: what trademark
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Re: what trademark
Reading comprehension is your friend.
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Trademark, geographical indication signs and proper authorship attribution protect customers from being victims of a fraud and companies and artists from someone else abusing their hard-earned reputation.
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Isn't Trademark law supposed to be regional? That is why there can be a Joe's Diner in Boston, Connecticut, and New York all being completely separate businesses.
If Groupon has no presence in Australia, it seems the other company is acting legitimately [as best I understand the law].
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1. They have never offerred a "coupon" that is anywhere relevent to my needs. (I checked in about 25 times over three weeks.) The signal/noise ratio is therefore atrocious and not worth my time.
2. They don't offer a service by which competitors can't do the same thing. I don't understand why Google or Microsoft can't emulate exactly what Groupon has done, and do it better?
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1. Obviously Groupon is not for you, but apparently it works for thousands of others and therefore they seem to have a marketable product.
2. Perhaps that's why Google made a play for Groupon which Groupon declined to be a part of.
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But it's ok when it goes the other way?
But what about the US company that is now the only company allowed to sell "Ugg" boots? A national treasure, the Ugg boot, but local manufacturers can only sell "sheepskin boots" now that a foreign company has "trademarked" them.
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Re: But it's ok when it goes the other way?
Trademark is NOT Worldwide and is absolutely Regional. It is also specific to usage.
A Proprietary Limited Company (PTY LTD) name is ONLY given within Australia if their is NO trademark dispute with already existing names within Australia. Our Corporation authority (ASIC) checks all IP matters before allowing a name to be used.
Groupon (USA) has got the shits because they never thought to register either the name nor the IP within Australia. TRIPS has nothing to do with it. Groupon PTY LTD (Aust) are not in any way shape or form "Passing off" or diluting the USA "Groupon" trademark since Groupon (The USA version) Do NOT offer there services within the region that is Australia (or even NZ).
The ONLY thing that Groupon (USA) could conceivably get in any court action is a promise that Groupon Pty Ltd would not enter into any markets elsewhere other than Australia. In the same way Groupon (USA) is now forbidden from operating in Australia.
McDonalds (USA) had this same problem trying to prove that they owned the common name McDonalds in conjuntion with selling hamburgers. Guess what? They found in Melbourne that they don't. Campbell Soup (USA) found out the same thing In Brisbane.
In other words, Huge multinational wannabe companies find out that they really don't have that much impact outside of there relevant trademark region and cannot bully tactic Aussie companies.
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Re: But it's ok when it goes the other way?
Trademark is NOT Worldwide and is absolutely Regional. It is also specific to usage.
A Proprietary Limited Company (PTY LTD) name is ONLY given within Australia if their is NO trademark dispute with already existing names within Australia. Our Corporation authority (ASIC) checks all IP matters before allowing a name to be used.
Groupon (USA) has got the shits because they never thought to register either the name nor the IP within Australia. TRIPS has nothing to do with it. Groupon PTY LTD (Aust) are not in any way shape or form "Passing off" or diluting the USA "Groupon" trademark since Groupon (The USA version) Do NOT offer there services within the region that is Australia (or even NZ).
The ONLY thing that Groupon (USA) could conceivably get in any court action is a promise that Groupon Pty Ltd would not enter into any markets elsewhere other than Australia. In the same way Groupon (USA) is now forbidden from operating in Australia.
McDonalds (USA) had this same problem trying to prove that they owned the common name McDonalds in conjuntion with selling hamburgers. Guess what? They found in Melbourne that they don't. Campbell Soup (USA) found out the same thing In Brisbane.
In other words, Huge multinational wannabe companies find out that they really don't have that much impact outside of there relevant trademark region and cannot bully tactic Aussie companies.
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