Federal Court Rejects Wal-Martâ..s Trademark Claim

March 28, 2008 D. H. McKee

Off

Sweet! Now to get those t-shirts out.

Public Citizen | Press Room – Federal Court Rejects Wal-Martâ..s Trademark Claim Against Web Critic

A federal judge today upheld a Georgia manâ..s First Amendment right to criticize Wal-Martâ..s business practices by using satire to compare its destructive effects on communities to both the Holocaust and al-Qaeda terrorists.
In rejecting the companyâ..s claim of trademark infringement, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta found that Charles Smithâ..s parody Web sites (www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com) and related novelty merchandise were protected speech and that a reasonable person would not confuse their use with Wal-Martâ..s legitimate trademarks. The court also rejected Wal-Martâ..s claim that it has trademark rights in the â..smiley-faceâ. that Smith used in one of his parodies.
Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia Foundation defended Smith after Wal-Mart sued the Conyers, Ga. man in 2006, claiming he infringed on its trademark by creating parody logos and Web sites built around the â..Walocaustâ. and â..Wal-Qaedaâ. concepts, including the image of an eagle clutching a yellow smiley face, similar to the one Wal-Mart uses in advertising. Smith also put the design on T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items that he sold on CafePress.com.
Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr.â..s decision reaffirms an important point of trademark law â.. that even though a parody is placed on a T-shirt and sold, it nevertheless represents non-commercial speech that is fully protected by the First Amendment and, thus, is not a proper basis for a trademark action, said Paul Alan Levy, a Public Citizen attorney, who represented Smith along with Gerald Weber of Atlanta.

Comments are closed.

About This Site

As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.