Comments on: Great Moments in Chutzpah: the Braves challenge Disney over the word “brave”

By: addictedzone

addictedzone — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:01:51 +0000

Everyone in the legal world knows…you NEVER take on the mouse.

By: wizzrdofaz

wizzrdofaz — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:47:45 +0000

Or uhm, Brave New World…remember that book by Aldous Huxley?? Or how about the novel, “The Brave” by Nicholas Evans and the movie by the same name? Or the movie, “The Brave One,” or the “Brave Little Toaster” or “Brave New Voices”, or the band, “Bravewords”? It doesn’t take long to realize the “Braves” are full of crap. Their case won’t even see trial, the Judge will throw it out. And NONE of those, like this upcoming Disney movie, are related to the term “Braves” that the “Braves” use, which denotes a native American warrior. This one is going to embarrass the “Braves”.

By: wizzrdofaz

wizzrdofaz — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:33:22 +0000

I guess brave heart doesn’t count?

By: foreverchipper10

foreverchipper10 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:10:11 +0000

I was hoping the Braves actually did something baseball related. Now I’m sad.

By: bravojawja

bravojawja — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:06:33 +0000

I believe they send a bill to the Atlanta Opera for each audience member who calls “Bravo!” after a performance.

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:12:24 +0000

Individual marks are registered in certain classes pertaining to the type of commercial use the owner intends. So Notre Dame can’t stop you from saying you are of Irish descent when you are trying to talk the bartender into buying your fourth round. They very well may, however, be able to stop you from selling sports-related merchandise with the word “Irish” on it, which seems like a reasonable position for them to take.

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:06:10 +0000

mmmmmmmmmmmm…girl scouts. But the jodge told me I’m not allowed to put them in my cookies anymore…:-(

By: mojosmagic

mojosmagic — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:49:17 +0000

Somehow out of this mess an Indian tribe will end up with a Casino.

By: mojosmagic

mojosmagic — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:48:02 +0000

Somewhere out of all this an Indian tribe will end up with a Casino.

By: unlost1

unlost1 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:47:48 +0000

So maybe native American’s should sue them both. Of course, as before, they won’t win since it’s more about economics than justice.

By: Max Power

Max Power — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:42:25 +0000

Did you know that the University of Notre Dame claims to own the trademark on the word “Irish”? I am not kidding about this.

By: kiwicricket

kiwicricket — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:47:03 +0000

I thought that was a cluster of islands in the South Pacific?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:35:57 +0000

There is stupidity, acute stupidity, abject stupidity, and the American legal “system.”:

By: phukyouk

phukyouk — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:07:27 +0000

Oh come on… its not like they are Nazi’s or anything..

oh wait…

By: phukyouk

phukyouk — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:06:33 +0000

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Samoa’s……

By: bennoj

bennoj — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:58:16 +0000

Hope they win. Disney is the true Evil Empire.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:54:14 +0000

I think they have a case- I once sued and won a case against a girlscout troop who wanted to call themselves “The deathmonkey squad”. And just to put an exclamation point on my victory, I bought a box of cookies and stomped on it in front of them while I told them how weak they were for bowing to the PC police and changing the name Samoa’s to Caramel Delites.

By: danandcasey

danandcasey — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:52:12 +0000

Not quite. First, we are talking trademarks here, not copyrights. Second, one cannot take trademark descriptive words — words that a competitor would need to use to describe the product. So, “light” is a term that others would need to use to describe beer that was lower in calories than regular beer.

In this case, the word “brave” is not a descriptive term. I have not seen or read the Braves’ opposition, but I would imagine that it states that the BRAVES mark is a famous mark and that the use of the mark BRAVE by Disney dilutes the famous mark.

By: cur68

cur68 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:39:10 +0000

Look, he played his Barry Bonds pitch early in the at bat to get the game off to a good start. He’s gotta junk ball it, ok? Think Charlie Hough on a good night in 1993. This the off season. WTF else is a blogger gonna do?

By: danandcasey

danandcasey — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:38:21 +0000

As a trademark owner, the Braves are obligated to take efforts to protect the strength of its mark. Such efforts to protect a mark is evidence as to the strength of the mark.

Plus, you can see the inherent problem here. The Atlanta Braves do not want to be associated with a product that will be fun for all ages to sit and watch that presents characters exhibiting determination and bravery to prevail at the end.

Enough of the legal analysis. Back to work. BTW, does anyone have the charge number for the Dodgers’ bankruptcy action – I need to bill the time I just spent.

By: stex52

stex52 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:36:04 +0000

In related news, the New York AL franchise has filed suit against the entire New England region for blatantly referring to themselves as “yankees.”

By: 12strikes

12strikes — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:29:57 +0000

If this story makes the cut for HBT, it is going to be a LOOOOOOONG 60 days till pitchers and catchers report.

By: geshtahl

geshtahl — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:22:26 +0000

“Brave” is standard english word. Unless I am mistaken, that means it cannot be copyrighted. See: Miller Brewing vs. Anheuser-Busch concerning the use of “lite” and “light” the court found that Miller owned “lite” but not “light” due to the whole standard english word thing.

By: phukyouk

phukyouk — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:10:02 +0000

I’m pretty sure its pronounced Choo-Spa

By: lembeck4

lembeck4 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:03:57 +0000

In related news, sports fans in Kansas City and Pittsburgh are preparing a formal objection to the Royals and Pirates for continually misrepresenting the term “Major League Baseball Team”.