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Geek Squad Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter To God Squad
An anonymous reader writes "A Wisconsin priest has God on his car but Best Buy's lawyers on his back. Father Luke Strand at the Holy Family Parish in Fond Du Lac says he has received a cease-and-desist letter from the electronics retailer. From the article: 'At issue is Strand's black Volkswagen Beetle with door stickers bearing the name "God Squad" in a logo similar to that of Best Buy's Geek Squad, a group of electronics troubleshooters. Strand told the Fond du Lac Reporter that the car is a creative way to spur discussion and bring his faith to others. Best Buy Co. tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it appreciates what Strand is trying to do, but it's bad precedent to let groups violate its trademarks.'"
http://www.i4u.com/37852/omg-geek-squad-wants-sue-priest The priests logo. And we all know what Geek Squad logo looks like.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Can't he claim this is a parody of Geek Squad cars? IANAL so I dunno how this works.
I don't know which "squad" is more f____g annoying.............
Best Buy lawyer struck by lightning.
They were probably just worried that "prayer" might prove more effective than the typical geek squad employee and cut into business.
If he isn't selling anything or competing with them, do they have legal grounds to make him cease and desist? I thought imitation was the highest form of flattery. Do we now outlaw spoof, satire, and creative imitation?
They are not being necessarily being overzealous. In the US, trademarks MUST be defended to be valid. If they failed to defend against this possible trademark issue, then the next guy that does a geek squad look alike can point to this case to strengthen his case that the trademark has become generic.
No, it proves that geeks aren't running Geek Squad.
I know that legally companies have to enforce trademarks or risk losing them. However, for a case like this where there is no actual damage to their business and no real risk of confusion, the best solution from a PR perspective would be to offer a royalty-free license to the trademark and its variant to the person in question.
You know, instead of the traditional "cease-and-desist" letter, you could send a "we notice you borrowed from our logo - we are required to contact you by trademark law, and we will offer you a royalty-free license for this use, in a limited context, if you get in touch with us".
That would completely avoid the nasty press these companies for doing this, and keep the trademark lawyers happily occupied.
Why can't we live in the kind of more civil society where we look for positive solutions to problems in this way instead of simply defaulting to the negative?
Geek Squad has to actively defend their trademark, otherwise they risk losing it. Looking at the FP's link with a bit more information, it sounds to me like Best Buy's PR woman was hinting at an appropriate solution. I bet they find a way to make everyone happy and simply license the trademark to Father Luke for his "God Squad" use.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
No, not really. Look at the logo. It's clearly based on the Geek Squad logo.
From 1114. Remedies; infringement; innocent infringement by printers and publishers emphasis mine
(a) use in commerce any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
(b) reproduce, counterfeit, copy, or colorably imitate a registered mark and apply such reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation to labels, signs, prints, packages, wrappers, receptacles or advertisements intended to be used in commerce upon or in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive,
Then again, IANAL
I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
There's more overlap than you may think. Geek Squad caters to many Windows users. Anyone on Slashdot running Windows knows that prayers are a big part of it continuing to work on a day to day basis.
Trademarks aren't enforced on a word-by-word basis. The issue would be the similarity of the logo as a whole.
The trademark claim may be invalid since the priest is not selling electronics or technical support, and presumably isn't using it in a commercial context at all. On the other hand, I'm not sure you could rule out a claim of dillution.
I wonder what happen then God sends Cease-and-Desist order to Geek Squad...
It matters a great deal.
That might be grounds for a dilution claim depending on details since it would be being used to advertise a product. This guy, however, isn't selling anything.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
I'm pretty sure, if it came down to it, I'd rather call the priest to deal with my computer issues.
(instead of the religious holiday All Hallow's eve, or the older Celtic Fall holiday).
Exactly, satan worship. Heathen.
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
I'm pretty sure, if it came down to it, I'd rather call the priest to deal with my computer issues.
My computer is full of daemons.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
the priest started charging exorbitant amounts for things that a user with 30 seconds on google could figure out on their own. "$80 rosary installation - bring in your rosary, and one of our trained technicians can install it around your neck. *Removal of existing necklaces only $5 each for Reward Zone members"
Only if your sysadmin isn't doing his job properly.
Considering how virtually every religious sticker I see on a car is a (poorly done) rip-off of an existing trademarked character or logo, it's kind of refreshing to see them actually get called on it. Thou Shalt Not Steal. Unless it looks cool and you can make a mint by altering it to promote your church...
If I want to open up geek squad plumbing there is nothing they can do about it.
Not true. They can sue you, even if they have a strong belief that they will lose.
You can be sued for any reason, by anyone. And in many cases, he with the most money, wins.
Look at RIAA, SCO, ORACLE, various patent trolls, etc.
The Christian holiday is All Saints Day. There are other religions, you know. Samhain, a religious holiday for many Neopagans based on ancient Celtic traditions, is October 31, or sunset on the 31st through sunset November 1.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
The lawyers are just being overzealous in this case.
God and Geek are not easily confused.
Squad is generic.
Trademarks must be considered in their entirety. The fact that "squad" is generic is irrelevant, because the entire mark and the entire alleged infringing use must be compared. The "Geek Squad" trademark is most certainly not generic.
Furthermore, the fact that two words are different is not dispositive for confusion. Instead, the question is the likelihood of confusion of the source. Might a consumer think "God Squad" is a subsidiary of "Geek Squad" or otherwise related? Maybe "God Squad" is the team of senior associates while "Geek Squad" is the regular crew, like paramedics vs. EMTs. Or the Geeks are for homes and small businesses, while the Gods are for enterprise IT consulting. If a consumer may think any of those or others, then it's irrelevant that "God" and "Geek" are different - instead, there's a likelihood of confusion of the source.
That said, the priest was almost certainly a non-commercial user, so the Lanham Act wouldn't apply and a Federal court would lack jurisdiction. But there may still be state law claims.
And the story, is inappropriately tagged with copyright when this is a trademark issue.
That's true.
That logo on that car is designed to fool people, and it is for the purpose of offering services. In a best case scenario, the priest is hoping that people will see it, think it is 'Geek Squad', then do a double take and realize that it isn't. In a worst case scenario, some people may think there is an actual connection. Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple of large businesses that have an open religious connection. Chick-fil-a and In and Out Burger both have corporate policy surrounding religion. The first closes on Sundays, and the second puts bible verses on the bottoms of their cups.
The priest was intentionally trying to sell his services by associating them with Geek Squad. This is kind of what trademark is intended for. I know if I owned Best Buy, I wouldn't it want to be associated with what is frequently considered an international child molestation ring.
There are other religions, you know.
Blasphemy!
Madness!
Ignore this signature. By order.
Sparta!