Doobie Brothers Vs. The Doobie Decimal System In Trademark Battle
from the is-everyone-high? dept
You just can't have a little clever fun anymore. With all the hoops cover bands have to jump through just to ply their craft, I had never really considered that one cover band might get into a trademark scuffle over the band's name. Yet, that's exactly what has happened to the Doobie Decimal System, a cover band now being sued by The Doobie Brothers, who claim that the band's name is confusingly similar to their own.
The Doobie Brothers trademarked their band name — as well as the use of “Doobies” for musical performances — in 1982, and their suit argues that the Doobie Decimal System’s moniker is “highly phonetically and visually similar” to their own, a similarity further compounded by the larger font used for the word “Doobie” in the Decimal System’s website and concert posters.Ah, yes, an enormously popular classic rock band with the kind of name recognition most bands only dream about is going to be confused with the Doobie Decimal System, a cover band whose name is a play on an organizational system for libraries. Congratulations, trademark pushers, this is where you've brought us. I contend that no amount of doobies could actually result in this doobie-confusion, but some of the supporters of this lawsuit are really stretching themselves to argue that there would indeed be such confusion.
Although the story is being spun in some quarters as though the Doobie Brothers are claiming to own the word “doobie,” they’re really just defending the trademark they own — and as Billboard‘s report points out, since the Doobie Decimal System performs hits from the same decade that produced most of the Doobie Brothers’ bestselling albums, they’re not entirely out of line in viewing one another as indirect competitors.Yeah, actually, they kind of are out of line of direct competition. Nobody is confused here and the cover band is competing with The Doobie Brothers about as much as a little league game competes with Major League Baseball. Sure, they're both baseball, but nobody is trying to figure out how to spend their baseball dollar and deciding between the two. In the meantime, even if The Doobie Brothers felt some kind of fearful obligation to protect their trademark, they could certainly be going about it more amicably than this suit.
They’re seeking “an accounting, an injunction and punitive damages for trademark infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competition.”Our only hope here is that the folks that own the IP on the Dewey Decimal system (yes, seriously, someone owns it) can be brought into the mix, causing the sitting judge's head to explode in frustration so everyone can just go home.
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Filed Under: cover band, doobie brothers, doobie decimal system, trademark
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Unfair Use!
Isn't there a fair use exception for parody trademarks?
Is somebody perhaps taking advantage of the Streisand effect here?
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The doobie brothers..
can 60's stoners sue????
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Re:
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Re:
I know folks like you want to make imaginary property real but what delusional words are you seeing?
be specific and quote the text you are talking about please.
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Re: Re:Edit to add....
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Confusion for morons in a hurry
Let's here it for them ....
The Doobie Brothers.
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It's a shame seeing what old groups will go through to see records again without ACTUALLY doing anything...
/rant
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Response to: avideogameplayer on Jul 29th, 2015 @ 2:13am
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example:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverherzfeld/2013/02/28/failure-to-enforce-trademarks-i f-you-snooze-do-you-lose/
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Re: (weakening by not suing)
In these situations I always ask this question: would party B have chosen the name/brand/trademark that they did if it were not for the existence of the name/brand/trademark of party A. If the answer is no, then there's a good chance that party B is trading off the goodwill, the notoriety, the fame of party A.
This is why you see tribute bands choose names that are suggestive of the music of a certain band, but they don't ever use the band's name unless they have a license. Of course, this leads to all sorts of fun...
http://www.vh1.com/news/11250/imitation-leather-the-most-hilarious-classic-rock-tribute-band-n ames-ever/
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Re:
We've discussed this many times. While you do have to enforce your trademark to keep it, that DOES NOT MEAN you have to sue. (1) It only matters in cases where there's a real likelihood of confusion and (2) you can absolutely just hand out a free license as well.
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And that trademark is a game
We're talkin' 'bout the China Grove
Oh, China Grove
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Re:
Oh, what a fool believes!
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Doobie at the library.
I can't tell you how many times I have been disappointed. :(
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Amazing! Freakin' Amazing!!
Have you ever been in a Library when you're high? I understand the name 'Doobie Decimal System'
This is funny, but it's a tragic comedy - must've run out the royalties...
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Re: Amazing! Freakin' Amazing!!
I too thought they had called it a career. Then 6 years ago (or thereabout) they released a new album. AFAIK that album went nowhere.
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Re: Re: Amazing! Freakin' Amazing!!
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Dewey IP
OCLC sued The Library Hotel in NYC for using Dewey Decimal Classification numbers for room numbers, for instance -- http://librarytechnology.org/news/pr.pl?id=15488 ), and has repeatedly tried to claim ownership of library records that were created by individual libraries in what was intended to be a cooperative system (https://www.techdirt.com/blog.php?company=oclc).
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Re: Dewey IP
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The OCLC would have a stronger claim
* I'm only seriously joking here, as the OCLC's trademark is in a different market category.
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I'm confused
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TYPICAL. Just...typical.
The Doobies get on their high horse lecturing about how terrible it is to tape a concert. I grew up thinking taping a concert was like rape (I was a little kid when I saw it).
It must be seen to be believed. Nothing about this story surprising me. They are a litigious bunch, of doobious talent, spawned yacht rock sensation Michael McDonald, which I will never forgive them for, and Skunk Baxter works for the defense or intelligence establishment now.
What a wretched bunch of human beings. That I cannot stand their music to begin with is almost beside the point.
Oh look, the Whats Happening?! episode has a Facebook page. Of course it does, because it was the dumbest moment of the 1970s. And that's saying a lot.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/That-Episode-of-Whats-Happening-Where-Rerun-Bootlegs-the-Doobie-B rothers/128063007271313
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Re: TYPICAL. Just...typical.
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I have a feeling there is prior art regarding the use of doobies for musical performances
In other news, drug war over, trademark prevents use of doobies!
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