Best Buy Threatens Priest Over His God Squad Parody; How Does God Feel About Trademark Law?

from the god-vs.-the-moron-in-a-hurry dept

Whoo boy. Apparently Best Buy, owners of the "Geek Squad" brand has prodded God by sending a cease-and-desist letter to a priest who has set up a "God Squad" car that does, in fact, look remarkably similar to the infamous Geek Squad VW Beetles: Obviously, the God Squad logo -- including the use on the same sort of car -- was used to build off of the brand reputation (which, um, isn't that good) of the Geek Squad. The priest could argue parody fair use, but it doesn't seem that the effort is commentary on the Geek Squad so much as it's just designed to get attention. It's worth noting, of course, that there are other "God Squads" out there as well, including a long running TV show, so at the very least, it does look like Best Buy has focused on this case due to the more direct similarities beyond the name.

Still, it does make you wonder if there's any actual likelihood of confusion. While this may get some attention, is anyone actually going to think that the priest is somehow associated with Best Buy? Does Best Buy's trademark even cover religious services (beyond the ever popular religious debates on operating systems?). In a legal battle between God and a moron in a hurry, who wins? And, most importantly, does it even make sense to antagonize someone obviously doing something like this for the fun of it? I recognize the traditional trademark lawyer response that a company "has to protect its trademarks," but that always ignores that there are other, much more friendly options.

In the meantime, if we're talking about God and intellectual property, it seems worth re-running the Mimi & Eunice cartoon on the topic:

Filed Under: geek squad, god squad, trademark
Companies: best buy