Idiotic Trademark Abuse
This article in today’s New York Times discusses the trademark claims of Leo Stoller.
He’s the proprietor of rentamark.com, a name which will make any trademark attorney giggle. (You can’t “nakedly” rent out trademarks; if you do, you lose your rights.) Mr. Stoller is in the business of “licensing” (not renting — no, never renting) numerous common English words for use as trademarks, then attempting to stop anyone else from using those words — including, just to sample at random, “choreographer”, “news”, and “adult entertainment” — in product names.
Happily, the Times reporter called Mark Lemley, and he got to the heart of the issue:
“It’s based on a misunderstanding of how trademark law works,” said Mark A. Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School. “Trademark law doesn’t give you exclusive rights in words, only the right to prevent consumer confusion. He’s not in a position to claim that his mark is unique or famous. It’s a common English word that’s already been used in many contexts as a trademark by others.”
Predictably, every time Mr. Stoller has brought one of his claims to court, he’s lost. What’s shocking is that Stoller seems to be making a living by threatening infringement actions against businesses and getting small settlements that cost less than going to court.
UPDATE: It looks like he has a long track record. And check out the complaint in Columbia Pictures’ declaratory judgment action against Stoller following his threat. The attached response letter from Aimee Wolfson, Columbia Pictures’ VP for Legal Affairs, is a superb smackdown; it’s one of the first big-studio legal documents I’ve read that I’ve enjoyed.
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The response letter starts on page 66 of the PDF.
Comment by Ernest Miller — July 4, 2005 @ 11:45 am
Profile of a Trademark Abuser
The New York Times has a good article on a trademark abuser (He Says He Owns the Word ‘Stealth’ (Actually, He Claims ‘Chutzpah,’ Too)).Over the last few years, Leo Stoller has written dozens of letters to companies and organizations and…
Trackback by The Importance of... — July 4, 2005 @ 11:47 am
Dumm und Dümmer
Ich weiß ja nicht wer blöder ist: der, der keine Ahnung von Urheber- und Markenrecht hat und deshalb jeden Fall vor Gericht verliert, oder der bei jeder Abmahnung gleich Zahlt und die Sache gar nicht erst bis vors Gericht kommen lässt. Auf jeden fal…
Trackback by Leben am Existenzmaximum — July 4, 2005 @ 3:23 pm
I laughed at that article too. on a related side note, TM law isn’t too complicated: I ended up passing the class my final semester of law school with flying colors having never gone to class, never read the textbook, but rather bought the short c “E-Z Trademarks” book (not kidding, that was the title) and reading it over the 3 days before the exam.
Comment by Bobak — July 4, 2005 @ 5:02 pm
Make money by misunderstanding trademark law
New York Times: He Says He Owns the Word ‘Stealth’ (Actually, He Claims ‘Chutzpah,’ Too): Over the last few years, Leo Stoller has written dozens of letters to companies and organizations and individuals stating that he owns the trademark to…
Trackback by IPTAblog — July 5, 2005 @ 6:25 pm
Seems like a good idea. Maybe we should divide the dictionary between us and begin suing companies all over the world for using words we used in a blog to define a great moment or something. Maybe we will get companies just paying us money to keep us quiet!! He, he.
Comment by Steffan Hughes — July 5, 2005 @ 10:32 pm
Copyfighter to trademark bully: I own “freedom of expression”
Leo Stoller is the jackass who registered a trademark on the word “Stealth” and now has a racket bullying people into paying him for a “license” to use the word (people give him small sums of money to get lost, though occasionally they sue and get …
Trackback by Boing Boing — July 23, 2005 @ 12:47 am
I predict Leo Stoller’s epitath will read like this:
HERE LIES
LEO STOLLER(tm)
HE DID NOT BUY
THE RIGHTS TO
“WORTH LIVING”
Comment by A.R.Yngve — July 24, 2005 @ 7:41 am
Copyfighter’s Karma
The gentleman who trademarked the word “stealth,” among other common words and phrases, get his just deserts….
Trackback by Copyfight — July 24, 2005 @ 11:51 am
[...] Consortium sent to Leo Stoller of Rentamark.com. Read the letter at JJB’s blog. Read the background on Stroller and the posting by Cory at boingboing.net
[...]
Pingback by The Real Paul Jones » Freedom of Expresssion ™ — July 26, 2005 @ 1:25 pm
[...] eedy man who has been giving the legal system a bad name. (The New York Times recently ran an article confirming as much.) The way he has been registering everyday exp [...]
Pingback by the space above the couch » Freedom of Expression ™ — July 27, 2005 @ 7:34 am
I had a run in with the famous Leo Stoller a few months back. We had used the word stealth for my friends website. It was called Stealth Racing. Nothing for profit just some kids having fun with there cars. After a few months I received a large packet in the mail from the famous Leo Stoller. It contained a bunch of legal documentation and a letter from the famous Leo Stoller that I was to shut down the site immediately and send him all the graphical content. I was perplexed, what do I do? Luckily my fiancee’s aunt is a lawyer and wrote a nice letter for me to send back to the famous Leo Stoller. We shut the site down but didn’t send him anything. But it all comes back, he will get his dues trying to muscle a company like Columbia. To the famous and unique Leo Stoller “what goes around comes around”…___hole
Comment by Stephen Toth — September 16, 2005 @ 12:33 pm