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Archive for the ‘Trademarks’ Category
Tampa, Florida Internet Company Sued for Trademark Infringement for Novelty Pay Stubs
Ever wish your pay stub showed a higher salary? Well, an internet company in Tampa, Florida offers to print a novelty pay stub for $89.95 that looks genuine according to an article in Newsday. The company’s novelty paycheck stubs, however, are at the center of a trademark infringement lawsuit brought in San Jose, California. New Jersey based Automatic Data Processing, Inc. believes that the Florida company’s fake check stubs are infringing rights to their trademark and damaging their reputation. ADP has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in San Jose, California against NoveltyPaycheckStubs.com and the operators of the website. The complete article is available in the St. Petersburg Times. What should you do if you come across unauthorized usage of your company’s
Scripps Research Institute Encounters Trademark Squatters in South Florida
The Scripps Research Institute is grappling with the unauthorized registration of their trademark with the Florida Division of Corporations. The name was registered by South Florida residents Virginia Scott of Jupiter, Florida and David Heilman of Lake Worth, Florida, according to an article in the South Florida Business Journal. Other names allegedly improperly registered by the Lake Worth and Jupiter, Florida residents include Salomon Brothers Realty, Inc., Geico Direct, Inc, The Free Trade Area of the Americas of Miami, Inc., and Clearchannel Communications, Inc., according to the article. After Scott and Heilman’s application with the Florida Department of State’s office for the trademark “The Scripps Research Institute” was filed, it was followed two weeks later wit
Florida Trademark Applicant Seeks Rights to “KATRINA BLOWS BUSH SUCKS”
Roughly two weeks after Hurricane Katrina battered South Florida, a trademark applicant in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is seeking rights to the mark KATRINA BLOWS BUSH SUCKS. Details of the application can be found on the Patent & Trademark Office Website. Simply click on status and enter serial number 78706886 and request status. The Office Action has already been issued rejecting the application as being “disparaging and/or scandalous” and for bringing into contempt or disrepute the President of the United States, George W. Bush. The applicant will be given six months within which to file a response. Should be an interesting application to follow. Not surprisingly, a dozen or so (at last count) other trademark applications have also been filed for marks containing the term
Hershey Sues Publisher for Trademark Infringement
A federal lawsuit filed on December 16, 2005, alleges that publisher Simon & Schuster’s front cover of “Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire and Utopian Dreams” is in violation of the candymaker’s ( Hershey Chocolate Corporation )trademark rights because the cover looks like a Hershey bar. So much for not judging a book by its cover. The company claims the cover gives consumers the impression that the company “authorized, sponsored or approved” the book while the author’s position is that the Hershey Co. is more concerned with the content of the book than its cover. It will be interesting to see how the lawsuit plays out. The book is scheduled to be released on January 3, 2006.