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December 3, 2006
Porn Stars, Beer and Santa: Brand Name Dilution Gets Hot
The Autumn issue (volume 88) of the newsletter from Marques, the association of European Trademark owners, features an excellent article by Eric Fingerhut entitled "Morality Aside, Brand Owners Scorn Porn," on how the porn industry poses a threat to brand owners.
Often, porn stars choose screen names that are already registered as trademarks, such as Tiffany, Porsche and Chanel. These names can inadvertently tarnish or dilute the original marks.
This story is especially timely on two fronts:
- The recently passed Trademark Dilution Revision Act, the main effect of which was to overturn a 2003 Supreme Court decision in favor of an adult novelty store’s right to be named "Victor’s Little Secrets." The new law asks plaintiffs to prove a "likelihood of dilution," something Victoria's Secret could do with ease in this case. Professor Barton Beebe at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York City has called this a "sensible and progressive reform of American antidilution protection."
- Coupled with that (excuse the pun) is the fact that brand names from adult films are clearly becoming more and more mainstream. Porn stars like Jenna Jameson, whose book How To Make Love Like a Porn Star is a best seller and is quoted in Fingerhut’s article, are attracting the interest of Madison Avenue. Jameson has starred in an Adidas commercial, for instance, and has been a guest host on E! She has lent her name to apparel, barware, fragrances, hand bags, lingerie and footwear offered at Saks Fifth Avenue and Colette Boutiques, and not your local Victor’s Little Secret outlet.
As these stars become more mainstream they will bring their stage names with them, and that means we are likely to see even more clear cut cases of brand name dilution. Fingerhut suggests that trademark owners visit Namedroppers.com as well as the Adult Video News Network to search for their trademarks. If you do discover your mark is being used in an unsavory manner, then Fingerhut suggests a simple cease and desist letter usually does the trick — porn people are very litigation shy.
Possibly none other than Santa Claus himself should read this article.
The Maine Bureau of Liquor Licensing and Compliance has just put the kibosh on a new brew called "Santa’s Butt Winter Porter." They also denied efforts to market "Very Bad Elf Special Reserve" ale as well as "Les Sans Culottes," a French ale that shows (horrors) a bare breasted rendition of Eugene Delacroix's 1830 painting "Liberty Leading the People," which hangs in the Louvre and is, um, the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty.
The Brookston Beer Bulletin has a great post on this featuring the "outrageous" labels in question and a reminder that "butts" are actually beer barrels in England. I doubt the importer in question, Shelton Brothers, is going to be getting letters from lawyers at the North Pole — or from the Delacroix estate.
Technorati Tags: Trademark, Intellectual Propery, Beer, Adult Entertainment
Posted by William Lozito at December 3, 2006 11:48 AM
Posted to Brand Naming
| Branding
| Media and Entertainment
| Product Naming
| Spirits
| Trademarking
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