IP: More on Mastercard, from someone who once sent trademark nastygrams

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
>
>---
>
>Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2001 10:20:43 -0400
>Subject: Re: FC: More on Mastercard lawyers threatening Attrition.org over
>         satire
>From: "Wendy Leibowitz" <wendytech@earthlink.net>
>To: declan@well.com
>
>Mr. Leavitt is correct that trademark lawyers are required to "zealously
>defend" their clients' trademarks. Until recently this was interpreted as
>meaning that vicious letters went out to anyone using a client's trademark,
>or something similar to a client's trademark. (Remember Pokey.org, the
>12-year old boy called Pokey who got those letters, and eventually a
>lawsuit, from the lawyers for Art Clokey, inventor of Gumby and his little
>red horse, Pokey?) The resultant bad publicity did a great deal of damage to
>the client, as Mastercard is discovering in this case, and as the lawyers
>for Warner Brothers discovered when they fired off threatening letters to
>little Harry Potter fans. Not every use of a trademark is infringement, and
>there are many tools to fight infringement other than threats.
>
>In the face of the Internet, I think trademark lawyers are changing their
>tactics. At least sophisticated trademark lawyers are--Mastercard doesn't
>seem to have those, yet. (They rightly threatened Ralph Nader's ads because,
>in part, you don't want your company to appear to endorse any political
>candidate). If they played this parody with a little sense of humor, they
>would get valuable publicity for their client, remind the world of trademark
>rights, and get even more mileage out of a successful and memorable ad
>campaign.
>
>I wrote an article about new trademark tactics. (I used to send those stupid
>threatening letters). It's at
>http://www.wendytech.com/articlesnyresolntm.htm
>
>Best regards,
>Wendy
>
>Wendy R. Leibowitz
>Legal Technology Columnist
>Editor, E-Filing Report
>1140 23rd St. NW
>Washington, DC 20037
>http://www.wendytech.com
>"Remember, even pencils break." --John F. Kennedy
>



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