Tribune Co. Files Trademark Infringement Suit Against Fox News Channel

If you live in Chicago, you have probably noticed the RedEye newspaper with its signature big headlines and columns on current pop culture. Covering all things from news to sports to gossip, the RedEye is distributed for free all throughout Chicago. Tribune Co. launched the RedEye in 2002, and has spent nearly $4 million to date to promote the brand for the paper that has seen its weekday circulation reach 150,000. Tribune Co. also acquired trademarks on the RedEye name and its logo for use with a general circulation newspaper. In addition, the RedEye brand has an internet presence and appears on Tribune Co.'s CLTV cable channel.

News Corp.'s Fox News Channel is a well-known TV channel that boasts a successful lineup of TV shows covering business and politics, including The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes. On February 6 of this year, Fox News launched a new late-night show to be hosted by Greg Gutfeld called "Red Eye." Soon after the premiere of the new show, Tribune Co. filed a federal trademark infringement suit against Fox News.

Prior to launching "Red Eye", Fox News declined Tribune Co.’s request to change the name of its show, and Tribune Co. was unable to get a temporary restraining order. Tribune Co. subsequently filed the suit, claiming that viewers would associate its RedEye newspaper with the Fox show, thereby causing confusion. Tribune Co. also seeks damages, alleging that its paper and Fox's show cover nearly identical content.

Currently, Tribune Co. only holds RedEye trademarks for use with a general circulation newspaper, which does not extend to the internet or television news. It was not until the day after "Red Eye" was launched that Tribune Co. filed RedEye trademark applications to extend the mark to providing news by means of a global computer network and cable television. A further search on existing "RedEye" trademarks reveals use of the mark on tools, production facilities for audio recordings, phonograph records, and newspaper cartoons.

Tribune Co.'s complaint alleges that Fox News never bothered to check existing use of the RedEye mark. In addition, Fox News appears to be approaching the pending lawsuit without blinking an eye, as the website for the show clearly references the show as "Fox News Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld."

Examiner Denies 'Obama bin Laden' Trademark

In the world of Politics, candidate supporters and opposers are willing to go to great lengths to support their candidate or hinder another candidate's chances of winning: running negative ads, participating in rallies to oppose items on a candidate's platform, and campaigning actively for their own candidate. Miami Beach resident Alexandre Batlle recently took actions that might have hindered the campaign of a well-known politician, until the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied a critical step in his efforts.

Barack Obama is a Democratic senator from Illinois who recently announced his bid for the 2008 Presidential election. A relative unknown just a few years ago, Obama saw his popularity skyrocket after his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. During Obama's rise to nationwide exposure, some people thought that the name "Obama" was eerily similar to that of another individual: Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden, of course, is the mastermind behind the infamous September 11 terrorist attacks.

Battle operates a website, www.obamabinladen.net, which reads as a combination of the politician’s and terrorist’s names, and site users can purchase coffee mugs, T-shirts, and other similar products that contain the phrase "Obama bin Laden." Seeking protection for the phrase, Batlle recently applied for a trademark with the Trademark Office.

Currently, various trademarks exist that relate to either Obama or bin Laden. The Obama trademarks are mostly slogans for his campaigns, such as "Obama - O Baby!" and "I back Barack." The bin Laden trademarks are mostly for products and T-shirt slogans that speak of America's disdain for him, such as "Osama bin Laden" for garbage cans and rodent traps, and "Trash bin Laden" for a T-shirt slogan. A trademark exists even for a combination of the two names: "Obama vs Osama in 2008."

Batlle's effort, however, fell short, as the Office rejected his application last week. The Office rejects an application for anything immoral or scandalous, and because the public has come to associate bin Laden with the acts of September 11, the name bin Laden is indeed scandalous and not registrable. The term 'Obama' in the mark also clearly refers to the Illinois senator, and to register the mark, Batlle needs to submit written consent from both individuals authorizing Batlle to register their names. Seeing as though bin Laden is the U.S.'s most wanted man and Obama likely does not want to be associated with bin Laden during his Presidential campaign, Batlle has to come up with a non-scandalous mark if he wishes to obtain any trademark protection.

New House Bill Allows Judges to Defer Patent Cases

The House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a proposal to allow certain judges to defer patent cases to their more experienced colleagues. Introduced last year by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the proposal aims to improve the time that patent cases are litigated, raise the level of expertise in patent cases, and provide for businesses to spend more time inventing and less time litigating.

According to the bill, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts has six months to select at least five US District Courts within three judicial districts for the proposed pilot program. In the selected District Courts, judges will have the opportunity to defer a patent case to another judge who has opted in on patent cases. If a patent case has been assigned to a judge who has deferred, then the case will be randomly reassigned to a judge who has opted in. The random reassigning is to cut down on "forum shopping." The Software Business Alliance, whose members include Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, and others, quickly hailed the bill as one that could lead to a slowdown in costly litigation.

Beatles, Apple Resolve Trademark Dispute

Just weeks away from a court showdown, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps have settled their decades-long trademark dispute, a result which hints at a long-awaited agreement between iTunes and the Fab Four.

Apple Corps, known for its logo of a green apple, was launched in 1968 by the Beatles' four original members to oversee the band's business interests. Apple Inc., originally known as Apple Computers, was founded in 1978 by current CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs, a huge Beatles fan, has acknowledged that he chose the name Apple and its signature graphical logo as a tribute to the band. The appreciation that Jobs received was a trademark infringement suit filed soon after founding by Apple Corps, which was settled when Jobs promised to never enter the music business.

After Apple began integrating more music capabilities into its computers, Apple Corps hit them with another infringement suit, with the result again being a settlement, this time for $26 million, with the deal again being that Apple could only attach its name and logo to its computer endeavors. On the heels of the tremendous popularity of Apple's iPod and iTunes store, Apple Corps filed yet another suit against Apple, but this time the judge ruled against the famed band. Facing an appeal, Apple finally came to a settlement last week with Apple Corps, with Apple gaining ownership of all "Apple" trademarks, and in return agreeing to license certain trademarks back to Apple Corps.

Noticeably absent from Apple's iTunes store is the Beatles' song collection, a collection sure to be worth billions of dollars. At the recent unveiling of Apple's iPhone, Jobs introduced the product with Beatles music and album art, fueling speculation that a settlement was imminent. Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall also recently confirmed that the Beatles catalog was being remastered for online distribution. Some are going so far as to speculate that there will be a Beatles-themed iPod in the near future.