Texas Rangers Oppose Bacardi's Logo For Green Tea Spirit Because Of The 'T'

from the texas-tee dept

More alcohol industry trademark news for you folks, except this time the ridiculous party in the story is not in the alcohol industry. This particular dispute revolves around a new liquor from Bacardi called "Tang," and if you thought the most likely party to object to Bacardi's trademark application for the new brand was from a soda company, you aren't alone. Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers, who I'm fairly certain are still in the baseball business, beat everyone else to the punch.

Bacardi’s Tang is a liquor distilled from fermented Chinese green tea. It’s applied to the Patent and Trademark Office to register its “Tang” logo for a tea distilled spirit and alcoholic beverages except beer. The ball club is fighting Bacardi’s registration because, it says, the “T” in Bacardi’s Tang logo looks too much like the “T” in the Texas Rangers logo.

And here are the logos in question, side by side.

Now, while the letters "T" in both logos do look kinda-sorta similar, there's a slight chance that's because it's a single freaking letter in the English language and there are only so many ways to depict a capital "T" in a recognizable way. The only real stylistical similarity in the two "T"s is the outjuts in the mid-section of the stem in each letter — known as "median spurs" and found on lots and lots of typefaces. Other than that, the letters are actually fairly distinct in style. And, of course, the rest of each logo has a shit-ton of other components which all severely demonstrate the source of each logo. This makes customer confusion laughably unlikely, particularly given that the Texas Rangers are known by the public to be in the sporting industry, even though the team claims it holds trademarks on its logo for use on beverages and food services.

Still, the Rangers have claimed that the public might think Tang is affiliated with the team. Which is ridiculous. And yet... it looks like settlement talks are already in the works.

So far, not much has happened in the cancellation proceedings. But one item on the case docket indicates that the matter has been suspended while the parties engage in settlement negotiations.

I'm a bit surprised that Bacardi, a company with the resources to defend itself, is even bothering with the settlement talks. The only way it would make sense to me is if the "settlement" was light on any monetary exchange, because the Rangers don't have much of a chance on this one.

Filed Under: baseball, drinks, t, tang, trademark
Companies: bacardi, texas rangers

Vicious Cycle: When Those Abused By Trademark Abuse Others With Trademark

from the neverending-story dept

There's a theory I learned in my college psychology classes about the nature of abusers and their victims, and what are the best criteria for predicting if a person will become an abuser. While the causes and histories of abusers are as varied as you'd expect, the general thought was that the best predictor for finding a future abuser was whether that person had been abused themselves. The study topics of that class centered around emotional, physical, and sexual abusers, but I see no reason why we can't apply the theory to other types of "abuse."

Say, trademark, for instance. Is someone who was bullied long ago over a trademark more likely to bully others in the same manner? I'm not sure, of course, but here's one anectodal instance of a small liquor marketer who felt the stern hand of a trademark bully long ago and has since turned to that tactic himself. Let's start off by examining the patient's history, shall we?

In 2000, [Andre] Levy launched a whiskey brand called Wild Geese. To Levy and his Irish wife Mairade, who live in Switzerland, the brand clearly evoked the story of 17th century Irish soldiers, known as the Wild Geese, who fled to France at the end of a war with the English. Pernod Ricard (RI:FP), the spirits company that owned Wild Turkey bourbon at the time, thought the new brand looked like a trademark violation. Levy, like the Irish soldiers that inspired him, eventually capitulated before a more powerful opponent. In 2008, he added the phrase “Irish Soldiers and Heroes” to the name on bottles sold in the U.S., which he says sufficiently distinguished it from the other wild fowl-branded booze. He later added the tagline “Untamed,” registering the mark with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in 2011.

So, here we see the "abuse." Now, just to be clear, I don't mean to equate trademark disputes with personal abuse. They're obviously not the same thing and this is obviously an incredibly imperfect analogy. That said, seen through the lens of that analogy, one might expect that going through what had to be quite a frustrating experience with Wild Turkey acting the absolute fool and stomping on the little guy (classic abuser behavior) could be an indicator that Levy would cycle into becoming an abuser himself. And, in my estimation, that's exactly what he did. Remember that "Untamed" trademark?

Last year, Bacardi sought to register the phrase “Bacardi Untameable” with the USPTO. Levy filed an objection and hopes to persuade the trademark office that Bacardi’s application, if approved, would violate his existing mark. In addition to his formal objection, Levy launched a website that asks visitors to rally lawmakers and bartenders to his cause. His tone is blustery: “Bacardi’s actions are a danger to all entrepreneurs and to Irish heritage,” the website says.

Like the earlier case, this seems to be a case of trademark over-protectionism. Customer confusion appears quite unlikely, given the plain branding with Bacardi's name on the bottle and its status within the industry. It's also quite likely that the marketing teams at Bacardi had no idea Levy and his whiskey brand even existed. Yet, here we are, with a trademark dispute and overblown claims about Bacardi endangering "all entrepreneurs" and "Irish heritage." Please.

But that's what happens in these abuse cycles. Rationality is done away with by the past and common sense is replaced by senses of anger and loss. Again, not a perfect analogy, but should you take a moment to examine the neverending march towards more protectionism of intellectual property, this pattern or cycle of victims turning into abusers fits like a jigsaw piece in just the right puzzle.

Filed Under: abuse, trademark, untameable, untamed, whiskey, wild geese
Companies: bacardi

Groove Armada's Business Model Experiments; Halfway There

from the it's-something dept

A bunch of folks have been sending in various stories about Groove Armada's experiment for distributing its latest music. The program, which was actually launched at Midem a couple weeks back, is explained (somewhat) in the following video at that event: There are a few elements here that are interesting and make sense... and a few that seem a bit questionable. First up, the musical group left Sony BMG last year and rather than signing a deal with a new record label, instead partnered with drink brand Bacardi, which has a long history of sponsoring music and live music events. This was interesting and followed on similar experiments by brands like Tag body spray, which launched its own record label recently, as well. It also followed on the massive success some musicians have seen in China by focusing on "sponsored" music.

That happened last year. What was new that was announced at Midem was the ability for people to download and share songs from an upcoming EP. I'll let reader SteveD summarize the good and bad:

The good:

• DRM-free music promotions though corporate sponsorship
• Opt-in mailing Bacardi list rather then Opt-out
• Very polished; quick sign-up, hassle-free download, links for inviting friends and facebook app supplied.

The bad:

• Treats access to music as a value-adding service in itself
• Restricts further access to content until you've invited x number of friends
• 'Rewards' system is really just a way of getting you to abuse you address book for them (access to all 4 tracks requires you spam 2000 friends, according to site Q&A).

To the "bad" list, I'd add the fact that the program is only going on for a month or so, and then the special "sharing widget" goes away. Again, there's plenty to applaud here in experimenting with new models, especially involving sponsored content and giving away music for free. However, the execution involving spamming of friends leaves plenty to be desired. That's not so much about connecting with fans as forcing yourself on people who aren't interested.

Filed Under: business models, experiments, file sharing, groove armada, music
Companies: bacardi