• Woman sued over trademark-infringing last name
    45 replies, posted
[IMG]http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/5969461/2/stock-photo-5969461-listen-up.jpg[/IMG] Rough translation: [QUOTE]Ms Figaro is a teacher who puts a little online activity ideas, posters to learn to read and songs to practice English. Nothing too serious. And as his last name is Figaro, his students call him Dr. Figaro. So, what is the name of his blog: The Class of Ms Figaro. Logic. With about fifty hits a day, the blog, buried deep in the Net, attracts a small community school teachers. It's all for the better until the day Ms. Figaro receives an email from the Figaro newspaper, which threatens to sue. "An exchange less courteous" Ms Figaro: "So usually, the expression" F word "is a large Anglo-Saxon word that should not say. In my case, it's my name that I should certainly not say. [B]I made ​​the mistake of calling me Ms Figaro and this greatly displeases the trademark owner Madame Figaro.[/B] "Maicresse", as my students say, nine years, I greatly appreciate the generosity of my colleagues on the Web. About a year ago, I decided to add my little stone to the edifice. With a blog: The Class of Ms Figaro. I publish short videos with the day of the week in English, ideas for activities to teach reading, math games ... In short, my modest contribution to the blogosphere school teachers. In early May, I received an email rather dry Figaro: "Unauthorized use and repeated MADAME FIGARO is an infringement of intellectual property rights [...]. So I thank you kindly immediately discontinue any use of that mark in your blog. " A little tickled, I reply: "I do not use the brand Madame Figaro, it's just my name. Now, if my humble blog teaching affects your well-known mark, far be it from me to you from the shadows. " An exchange less courteous. The legal director of the BBC asked me to add my name in the blog title to "eliminate any confusion." No way. I agree however to use the abbreviation "Mrs." instead of "Madam". Not satisfied, Le Figaro found that my humble blog is "very disturbing" and "trivializes the brand."[/QUOTE] [url]http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rue89.com%2Frue89-eco%2F2012%2F06%2F27%2Fmme-figaro-donne-son-nom-son-blog-madame-figaro-menace-233364&act=url[/url]
How dare you have a name.
giant fucking bullshit [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] Not long ago I also found a possibly copyright infringing surname "De Gouw" Dutch translation of the LOTR's Shire
oh shit my last name is harris a company that makes digital microwave radios, wireless local loop telephony systems, broadband wireless access products, and secure communications systems is going to sue me FUCK
article is bullshit. [quote] [U]Ms [/U]Figaro is a teacher who puts a little online activity ideas, posters to learn to read and songs to practice English. Nothing too serious. And as [U]his [/U]last name is Figaro, [U]his[/U] students call him Dr. Figaro. So, what is the name of [U]his [/U]blog: The Class of [U]Ms [/U]Figaro. Logic. [/quote] someone seems to be confused on their sex. or the translator can't tell between male and female.
Is it just me or is this article really hard to follow? :v:
[QUOTE=Silentfood;36547233]article is bullshit. someone seems to be confused on their sex. or the translator can't tell between male and female.[/QUOTE] The article is translated from French to English in google translate. No shit it's going to have errors.
Glad my surname isn't used by a company, yet.
[QUOTE=Silentfood;36547233]article is bullshit. someone seems to be confused on their sex. or the translator can't tell between male and female.[/QUOTE] Considering the source OP gave is google translator.
There's a plumber in Italy names Mario. Can he be sued by Nintendo for trademark infringement too? Probably not.Names that are generic can't be trademark.
And so; Facepunch's days of shouting to the stars "What's next, copyrighting names?!" finally comes to an abrupt closure as the corporate masses find new means for a quick buck.
[QUOTE=BCell;36547300]There's a plumber in Italy names Mario. Can he be sued by Nintendo for trademark infringement too? Probably not.Names that are generic can't be trademark.[/QUOTE] Shit I meant agree, bloody laggy fucking browser.
[QUOTE=digigamer17;36547325]Shit I meant agree, bloody laggy fucking browser.[/QUOTE] -snip because he already did it-
[QUOTE=Recurracy;36547200]giant fucking bullshit [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] Not long ago I also found a possibly copyright infringing surname "De Gouw" Dutch translation of the LOTR's Shire[/QUOTE] Hah, I know like 5 people with that surname.
And this is why we need to abolish copyright, ladies and gentlemen.
[QUOTE=Silentfood;36547233]article is bullshit. someone seems to be confused on their sex. or the translator can't tell between male and female.[/QUOTE] Pyro
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;36547768]I think it's more of need to prevent people from using copyright to bully each other.[/QUOTE] If we take out all the ways we know now, they'll just invent new ways. It's more effective to just remove the whole thing.
We should sue anyone named Lockheed or Martin too!
[QUOTE=lavacano;36547779]If we take out all the ways we know now, they'll just invent new ways. It's more effective to just remove the whole thing.[/QUOTE] Copyrights protect certain content and ideas from getting stolen. What's bad, and what happened in this article, was that it got used against someone. That's like saying you don't need the Police or the legal system. Sure, sometimes they work against us, counterclockwise, but if we didn't have them, all hell would break loose
Next thing you know we'll be sued for breathing air.
Well then I'm fucked, my first name is gonna get me sued by Phillips. oh wait :v:
Scott Clark. Two of the most common names in white society. I'm fucked: [IMG]http://www.sargents.com.au/images/Scotts6pkFrontShot.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X1BWU7I6dnM/TeljlhiHbVI/AAAAAAAAACU/25YeLR1PevI/s1600/scott_coupons.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.petrolplaza.com/images/news/industry/12229/x4e606ae40e1db.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.kcprofessional.com.au/media/97967/kcp_header.jpg[/IMG] Actually, I think this calls for a game in fast threads. I'm making one now! EDIT- Post your names here now [URL="http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1194199"]http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1194199[/URL]
So if my name was Sony Ericsson, I would get sued?
[QUOTE=dije;36548507]So if my name was Sony Ericsson, I would get sued?[/QUOTE] No, they would've just killed you because you would've been too great a threat to their profits.
[QUOTE=lavacano;36547704]And this is why we need to abolish copyright, ladies and gentlemen.[/QUOTE] Getting rid of copyright will lead to a shitstorm of ripoffs that are allowed to use the name and looks of established brands ('Coca-Cola' that isn't actually Coca-Cola, a 'Microsoft' piece of software closer to malware than Norton Antivirus, etc). When the only way to figure out which package of bread is actually Mrs. Baird's and which package of bread just says it is but is actually made out of sand and bug guts is by buying both and trying each, you're going to want copyright back. It needs an overhaul and it needs to be followed less rigorously, getting rid of it completely is a horrible idea.
[QUOTE=cccritical;36548719]Getting rid of copyright will lead to a shitstorm of ripoffs that are allowed to use the name and looks of established brands ('Coca-Cola' that isn't actually Coca-Cola, a 'Microsoft' piece of software closer to malware than Norton Antivirus, etc). When the only way to figure out which package of bread is actually Mrs. Baird's and which package of bread just says it is but is actually made out of sand and bug guts is by buying both and trying each, you're going to want copyright back. It needs an overhaul and it needs to be followed less rigorously, getting rid of it completely is a horrible idea.[/QUOTE] Can we at least agree that Software Patents need to go?
My last name is Kennedy, I sure hope NASA doesn't try to sue me!
Oh dear. My last name is Macintosh. Apple's going to say I'm infringing their copyright and run me out of business.
[QUOTE=dije;36548507]So if my name was Sony Ericsson, I would get sued?[/QUOTE] I checked, there are 49 people called Sony Ericsson in Sweden alone
Spelling Eric with a C is not as common as spelling it with a K in Sweden though. My sister has a classmate named Sony Eriksson.
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