|
Can anyone tell me what is copyright'able about a "TOP 20 list".
Check here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22Travelzoo+Top+20...
What exactly has this particular website/company TM'd?
I've seen them list it as:
"Company_name Top 20(TM) list" and also when just refering to their
"Top 20(TM)" list.
What does this mean to the rest of us? "Can" I create a travel site and
have my OWN "Top 20" list? - or do they have some legal precedence on
the whole "TOP 20 list/travel specials" thing...I guess my question is
WHAT EXACTLY HAVE THEY trademarked by placing that (TM) where it is.
Thank you.
While I'm here...
1. In their disclaimer, regarding "custom graphics, button icons" they
say those things "may not be copied, imitated or used". They happen to
have a simple icon that says "TOP 20". Does this mean that I can't
create my own icon that also says "TOP 20"? I can think of several
sites that have a "Top 20" graphic somewhere on their page.
How about this...
2. "...All Web-site materials, including, without limitation, the logo,
design, text, graphics, other files, and the selection and arrangement
thereof are Copyright..." - What is meant by ARRANGEMENT? What is
unique about their arrangement? Most of their pages have a simple
left-side navigation/top logo/ and content boxed in somewhere between
the two. There are 1000's of sites with that layout.
|
| |
| |
Can anyone tell me what is copyright'able about a "TOP 20 list".
Check here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22Travelzoo+Top+20...
What exactly has this particular website/company TM'd?
I've seen them list it as:
"Company_name Top 20(TM) list" and also when just refering to their
"Top 20(TM)" list.
What does this mean to the rest of us? "Can" I create a travel site and
have my OWN "Top 20" list? - or do they have some legal precedence on
the whole "TOP 20 list/travel specials" thing...I guess my question is
WHAT EXACTLY HAVE THEY trademarked by placing that (TM) where it is.
Thank you.
While I'm here...
1. In their disclaimer, regarding "custom graphics, button icons" they
say those things "may not be copied, imitated or used". They happen to
have a simple icon that says "TOP 20". Does this mean that I can't
create my own icon that also says "TOP 20"? I can think of several
sites that have a "Top 20" graphic somewhere on their page.
How about this...
2. "...All Web-site materials, including, without limitation, the logo,
design, text, graphics, other files, and the selection and arrangement
thereof are Copyright..." - What is meant by ARRANGEMENT? What is
unique about their arrangement? Most of their pages have a simple
left-side navigation/top logo/ and content boxed in somewhere between
the two. There are 1000's of sites with that layout.
Just because a company uses a copyright or trademark designation, does not
mean it would stand up in court in a copyright/trademark infringement suit.
It usually comes down to whether confusion would be created in the
marketplace about whether the use of such slogans, graphics, etc was
referring to the original company that claimed the copyright/trademark, or
some other unrelated company. If another travel website was also using the
top twenty theme, especially with similar icons and graphics, they have a
stronger case than a business using the top twenty theme than an unrelated
business.
For example, even though Delta Airlines and Delta Power Tools have a very
similar name, and use a triangle in their logo (the delta symbol) no one
would likely be confused between an airline and a power tool company, so no
trademark infringement exists.
Obviously, these are maters of judgment by judges and jurors in these kind
of lawsuits.
|
| |
| |
On Sun, 12 Jun 2005 23:10:10 -0400, "googley" wrote:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22Travelzoo+Top+20...
What exactly has this particular website/company TM'd?
I'm not going to try to explain the legal principles behind my
observations. If you're interested, you can find a pretty thorough
explanation of the basics of trademark law at
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/.
Now, on to your question, and some of the other questions you asked.
All the "TM" symbol means is, "We claim to have trademark rights in
the preceding word or phrase, and if you use it in a way we don't
like, we may threaten you with legal action, etc." It doesn't mean
that they actually *have* any rights; they are simply giving notice to
the world that they think they do!
In contrast, the letter R in a circle would be notice that they have a
*registered* trademark, that is, the United States Patent and
Trademark Office has examined the proposed mark and agreed that they
have the right to use it. Even then they could lose the mark in
several ways, and if they tried to sue someone for trademark
infringement, the court might decide that the Patent and Trademark
Office was mistaken, and the mark was never valid at all.
They claim trademark rights in their trade name, "TravelZoo." Without
researching the name, I would guess that they can enforce those
rights. The name is made-up and highly distinctive. It's unlikely that
anyone could use it without creating confusion between TravelZoo and
themselves in the mind of potential customers, or would try to use it
without intending to doing so. That's the technical definition of
trademark infringement: using a trademark in a manner that tends to
create confusion regarding the source of the trademark owner's goods
or services (and/or the infringer's own).
They also claim trademark rights in the term "Top 20," in this case
meaning whatever 20 travel offers they happen to be pushing at the
moment. This claim is much weaker because the term is descriptive
rather than invented. It could quite reasonably be used without any
reference to TravelZoo's services, on a web site devoted to movie
reviews or music or golf courses or just about anything else. Within
the field of travel services they could make a plausible claim to
trademark protection for this phrase -- plausible enough to bully a
competitor who can't afford a lawyer. I would not bet on them if they
took someone to court, though.
Regarding the icons on the buttons, they cannot legitimately claim
trademark protection for the words "Top 20" on a button. If there is
something distinctive about the design of their button, they can
protect that. I don't see the button on their home page, so I can't be
more specific.
Regarding "the selection and arrangement thereof are copyrighted," a
copyright only requires an "original work of authorship" in a fixed
medium of expression. A web page is fixed enough to meet the latter
requirement, and the threshold for an "original work" is very, very
low! To give you an idea how low: suppose you made a list of the names
of all the people who served in the United States Congress during the
20th century. You could not copyright that list, because it would be
merely a collection of facts. If you arranged the list in alphabetic
order you still could not copyright it, because there is nothing
original about arranging a list in alphabetic order. But if you
arranged the list in some apparently arbitrary order which you
considered to have aesthetic value, then you could copyright it; that
arbitrary order would be sufficiently original for copyright purposes.
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
|
| |
| |
|
