Posted by
Parsing Poet In The Basement of Town Hall on Monday, October 01, 2007 12:43:41 PM
Been Here, Done That: The Prior Slap Down
How Jefferson Airplane Got Toasted By Berkeley Systems
Legal
tussles, such as the one Carrie Olson presented to the shopkeepers of
Cafe Press, are something she, Wade Boyd and Joan Blades have been
through before. Prior to founding Move On, they were taken to court
over a genuine trademark infringement themselves. As much as you'd like to think that Berkleyites are organic crunchers who bake bread, they're not.
They're millionaires,
and they have their fingers in everything from Berkeley city council,
the preservation committee, to starting a group for moms who think just
like them. George Soros aside, these folks have plenty of money of their own. They made it when they were still young and have very little in common with the rank and trade, bible-thumping Democrats a lot of us grew up with.
They made their fortune with a company called Berkeley Systems,, which among other things, developed a screen saver with "flying toasters." These
were winged toasters flying through the air on your computer in the
late 1980's and 90's made by Berkley Systems. Remember it? Unless you
weren't born, or you were completely oblivious, there's no way you
could not have seen this iconic image.
In 1973, Jefferson Airplane
released an album with... you guessed it, winged flying toasters. It's
such a zany idea. Who would have thought of it? It's not hard to
imagine LP was popular, along with the smell of Herbal essence and
patchoulli in the grimy apartments around Berkeley. Look at it here.
By 1994, Berkeley Systems was big business. Jefferson Airplane sued them for copying their iconic image. Read about it here.
Berkeley System claimed it had grown organically from the brain of one
of their engineers named, Jack. Yeah, right, and pigs fly, too.
However, Jefferson Airplane LOST in court. The reason? JA had failed to register their trademark in 1973. (Well, it was a rock band you know. Who thinks of trademarks when you've got groupies?). Berkeley systems got off scott-free. In fact, Wade Boyd claimed to never have seen
a flying toaster before they released their product. Either he's
discounted the entire idea of a subconscious which liberals thrive on,
or this just made them the squarest nerds in Berkeley. One wonders why
they didn't become Republicans, if this was the case.
Still, one
can't notice a glaring similarity between the two designs. To the
average looker today, it's hard to believe it was coincidence, that
they aren't overgrown toaster hijackers. There is the appearance of
some unethical behavior. Only they know the truth, but someone was
angry enough to write about it on not one, but several wikipedia
entries tied to their company. What can I say? Sometimes things are put
there as a gift.
So they learned a quick lesson. Slap this trademark schtick on a t-shirt and mug shopkeeper who doesn't have an intellectual rights attorney and you'll get your way.
So
Olson got her way again. Cafe Press weighed the risk of taking on this
overgrown adolescent toaster hijacker in court... even though they
disagreed heartily with her.But boy, was she wrong.
From Healy's article, which he only wrote after conferring with several trademark attorneys:
"Trademark
law doesn't confer monopoly rights over all uses of a registered phrase
or symbol, however, and it wasn't created simply to protect the
trademark owner's interests. Instead, it's designed to protect
consumers against being misled or confused about brands. The courts
have repeatedly ruled in favor of parodies and critiques; that's why
www.famousbrandnamesucks.com doesn't violate famousbrandname's
trademark. And most, if not all, of the items targeted by MoveOn were
clearly designed to razz it, not to trick buyers into thinking they
were the group's products."
So
in reality, these sandal wearing, hair-do needing liberal types are no different than any
other rich business titans who are used to getting their own way. Even
if it means quashing the First Amendment to anyone who disagrees with
them.
So, our rebuttal?
Go see it at The Poli Stew Cafe
Make your own coffee. Our waitresses are busy shopping.