There Is Nothing Like a Dame
by T Kyle King on Feb 26, 2007 11:15 PM EST
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PrintA few years back, Donald Trump sued Mukesh Shretta, the owner of an Atlanta strip bar called the Club Taj Mahal. Trump's rationale was that folks might think the "gentlemen's club" was in some way affiliated with his New Jersey casino, the Trump Taj Mahal, which it was not.
What most neutral observers found ironic about Trump's presumptuousness, of course, was the fact that both the casino owner and the club owner had borrowed the nomenclature from the Indian mausoleum built between 1632 and 1648.
Along similar lines, we now have yet another reason to hate Notre Dame.
MGoBlog's Brian used to market a shirt emblazoned: "Notre Dame: Returning to Glory Since 1993." Folks with a sense of humor found the slogan hilarious. Other folks thought otherwise.
As Brian put it:
As several of Brian's readers cogently observed, there is a bit of a Donald Trump problem here.
The Gothic cathedral Notre Dame de Paris was built between 1163 and 1345. Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published in 1831. The University of Notre Dame was founded in 1842.
Intellectual property law is not among my areas of practice, but I have a tough time taking this spurious claim to "an exclusive trademark" on the name "Notre Dame" seriously. Until 12th-century French churches begin getting cease and desist letters, as well, Brian ought to be able to sell his T-shirts without being harassed by a bunch of stodgy curmudgeons who could use a sense of humor.
Go 'Dawgs!
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It's funny
However, I do feel it's important to point out that the c&d letter was from CLC, not from Notre Dame. CLC has negotiated the licensing rights for all major college teams & a lot of the bowls. See http://www.clc.com/clcweb/publishing.nsf/Content/home.html
The same thing would have happened with shirts that said "University of Georgia" or "Georgia Bulldogs".
Not saying it's right, just that ND is not behind it.
Fair point
Thanks for stopping by.
We deal with the CLC every year...
by Todd @ Dawg Sports on Feb 27, 2007 9:44 AM EST reply actions
i actually agree with CLC here
That said...
He could switch it to "South Bend Football:
Pursuing....."
And I think he would've been closer.
But what do I know.
pwd
Todd, Paul, you're probably right . . .
If they want to say they have an exclusive trademark to "Fighting Irish," "University of Notre Dame," or the interlocking "ND" logo, that seems perfectly valid. Writing "Notre Dame" in a certain stylized way associated solely with the Golden Domers seems like fair game, as well.
I'd even buy the idea of the Roman Catholic Church, which is affiliated both with the French cathedral and the Indiana university, being able to go after Victor Hugo for infringement . . . but the collegiate licensing folks having an exclusive trademark on the mere use of the words "Notre Dame"?
That strikes me as silly. Legally, they may be right, but, even if they are, the underlying absurdity ought to cause them to pause rather than send out the logocops like a bunch of A.T.F. agents hunting down rogue Methodist ninjas.
Also, since the T-shirt says "Returning to Glory Since 1993," there's another way to get it pulled from circulation; the Irish could try winning a dadgum bowl game . . . or, at the very least, not getting it handed to them in a B.C.S. game.
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