Court Case Brought By Dairy Queen Over 'Blizzard' Trademark Infringement On 'Blizzard Water' Begins And Is Dumb

from the brrrrrr dept

I don't know how in the world I missed this over the past couple of years, but I'm just in time to introduce you to a trademark lawsuit brought by the Dairy Queen people against W.B. Mason, an office supply and grocerer, over the latter's "Blizzard Water" brand. This story actually starts back in 2017, when W.B. Mason applied for a trademark on the water product. The company had actually been selling Blizzard Water since 2010, but the trademark application appears to have been what made Dairy Queen aware of that.

And as a result, Dairy Queen filed suit over trademark claims. Dairy Queen argued in its initial complaint that its "Blizzard" mark is famous, which, yeah it is. It also argued that W.B. Mason selling Blizzard Water in its stores was going to cause confusion of origin or association with the buying public. Which... no, come on now. Ice cream is not water and no moron in any kind of hurry is going to confuse the two. Why does Dairy Queen say that product difference doesn't matter? Well, from the filing...

A substantial portion of Dairy Queen's approximately 4,500 DAIRY QUEEN® restaurants in the United States sell bottled water branded with third party marks in close proximity to sales of, and advertising featuring, Dairy Queen's BLIZZARD® treats and the BLIZZARD® Marks. For example, DASANI® bottled water was a featured item on DAIRY QUEEN® restaurant menus in February 2018, in close proximity to BLIZZARD® treats.

And that's pretty much it. Because Dairy Queen sells Dasani water and also Blizzard treats, suddenly it becomes trademark infringement for W.B. Mason to sell branded water. That's... not how this works. It's also worth mentioning that W.B. Mason didn't come up with this branding for water purely to trade off of Dairy Queen's product. Instead, as is detailed out in the court's refusal to both sides to rule for either in summary judgement, W.B. Mason has been selling other "blizzard" branded items for some time, namely paper in its office supplies division. In its analysis on summary judgement, the court essentially falls back on both parties having submitted competing evidence, meaning a trial must ensue. But the court also said:

[The court] notes that the record evidence of intent is weak and Dairy Queen will need to present legal authority to rely on any post-notice evidence supporting intent at trial.

In other words, Dairy Queen indicated that W.B. Mason had knowledge of Dairy Queen's mark but didn't bother to present any evidence of that. On the rest of the trademark claims for the purposes of summary judgement, the court again points to competing evidence, but notes, again, that any evidence of intent to confuse the public is very weak and, while allowing this case to continue due to competing evidence, that there is a ton of evidence on record to demonstrate that (sigh) ice cream treats and water are not directly competing products.

Look, this is all very elongated, complicated, and, ultimately, stupid. I have no idea why Dairy Queen is spending the time and resources to keep an office supply store from selling Blizzard-branded water. It is no threat to Dairy Queen. There are plenty of other companies out there in unrelated markets using the "blizzard" mark as well.

Perhaps the company's legal team is on some kind of manic sugar high.

Filed Under: blizzard, blizzard water, trademark
Companies: dairy queen, w.b. mason

How Newark Mayor Cory Booker Made All Politics Super Local With Twitter Following The Blizzard

from the one-to-one dept

I recognize that there are many people out there who simply don't understand the appeal of Twitter. Every time we mention the service, we get comments from people saying things like "why would I want to know what some random person had for lunch." Of course, the answer to that is that if all you're getting out of Twitter is what people you don't care about are having for lunch, you're not following the right people. Twitter really is what you make of it, and for many people, it's a really useful communication tool. I use it in a variety of ways, including to keep up with news, but also as a way to stay in contact with friends and family. It's also -- somewhat surprisingly -- enabled new friendships and even business opportunities, by allowing me to build stronger relationships with people I'd probably not communicate with otherwise.

However, there are certain moments when you realize just how powerful Twitter can be as a communication platform, and those tend to be cases when previously impenetrable walls are broken down. I've told the story in the past about how the first time I realized Twitter was powerful was during the Iowa Presidential caucuses in early 2008, when I started following a user who was aggregating tweets directly from within caucus rooms about what was happening in those rooms. What became fascinating to me was that the information that was coming out got me detailed (and extraordinarily accurate) information well before (as in hours) mainstream media had the results. In fact, in comparing the Twitter results with CNN's reporting, what became clear was that if you were watching Twitter you would have a much better understanding of what was happening in Iowa.

I'm getting a similar feeling after reading about Newark Mayor Cory Booker's use of Twitter in response to the big blizzard that hit the northeast this past weekend. He's been tweeting up a storm, as he travels around Newark helping to plow streets and dig out cars and help people in trouble. As you look down the thread, he's specifically responding to different people calling out for help -- either sending people to help or showing up himself, such as the case of the woman who was stuck in her home and needed diapers, which the mayor brought himself.

In another, somewhat epic, stream of tweets, one guy complained that he was stuck. Mayor Booker responded, asking for the guy's phone number, and shortly thereafter tweeted that he was there to help. At the same time, though, the original tweeter was complaining on Twitter with curses, and wondering if the mayor would really show up. In response, Mayor Booker called him out:

Wow u shud b ashamed of yourself. U tweet vulgarities & then I come out here to help & its ur mom & sis digging. Where r u?

Eventually, the guy came out and apparently they talked and worked it out, with the mayor thanking him and the guy apologizing.

Now, I'm sure that there are cynical people out there who will mock all of this as just a publicity stunt. And, to some extent, it is a publicity stunt, but it's an incredibly effective one. Paying attention to his account, you realize that even if he knows he's getting attention for all of this, he really is using Twitter to find out where there are problems and responding quickly. Some will, of course, point out that all of this provides cover for the fact that the city didn't seem to do a good job plowing in the first place -- but the storm was not an ordinary storm. Also, a key characteristic of what makes a leader is how they respond when things go wrong, and this reaction is quite interesting.

But what's more telling to me, is how this is yet another case of barriers being broken down. Traditionally, folks who were stuck in certain areas of Newark might -- at best -- call some government agency where they'd probably get a run around. The likelihood of them actually being able to contact the mayor directly and have him respond and do something was nil.

The famous saying, of course, is that all politics is local, but this story shows how Mayor Booker took that to another level, and really opened a channel for direct communication in a time when it really mattered.

Filed Under: blizzard, cory booker, local, politics, twitter