Sarah Palin Seeks To Trademark Her Name

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Sarah Palin Seeks To Trademark Her Name

Posted by timothy on Saturday February 5, 2011 @01:13AM from the bob-dole-doesn't-trademark-his-name dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has filed paperwork with the US Patent and Trademark Office in November to trademark her name. On her initial application, Palin listed usage of the trademark for a website featuring information about political issues; and educational and entertainment services, including motivational speaking in the fields of politics, culture, business and values. Legal experts say it is relatively unusual for politicians to formally trademark their names because they are generally not associated with commercially valuable products or services and that trademarking a name is more common for celebrities in the fields of entertainment, fashion or sports. 'Sarah is somebody who is now out of government and pursuing other activities, in particular, speaking engagements ... and it looks like she's looking to protect her name with those activities,' says attorney Claudia Ray."

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Hmmm ... by WrongSizeGlass · 2011-02-05 01:17 · Score: 4, Interesting

Does this mean she's trying to prevent others from using her name in articles/posts/blogs/etc without her approval or consent? Will she be able to use the DMCA to force removal of anything negative about her that she does't like?
1. Re:Hmmm ... by gclef · 2011-02-05 01:21 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  February is supposed to be "no Sarah Palin News Month". Please, Slashdot, honor the effort!
2. Re:Hmmm ... by publiclurker · 2011-02-05 01:28 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Well, we can still use Clueless Bitch, right?
3. Re:Hmmm ... by PopeRatzo · 2011-02-05 02:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Sure, that is how I refer to Obama!
  Man, you see how he took that dude down? Guy was like "Sarah Palin is a Clueless Bitch" and he came back with "Nuh-uh, Obama's a Clueless Bitch!" He probably high-fived his keyboard after coming up with that witty bon-mot.
  It's basically the Sunday morning TV news talk shows, distilled to their essence.
  To be fair though, Sarah Palin is pretty much the Platonic ideal of Clueless Bitch. The first poster has accuracy going for him, if not the Oscar Wilde-like ability with the verbal comeback that the second poster showed with his "I know you are, but what am I?"
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
4. Re:Hmmm ... by drinkypoo · 2011-02-05 02:19 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Obama is provably the bitch of the powers-that-be. Sarah Palin is provably a clueless bitch, and the same kind of bitch as Obama. So what we have is a couple of little bitches, but one is ever so much bitchier than the others.
  Obama has fallen down on his promises again and again. Palin has proven her idiocy time and again. Anyone supporting either of them at this point, however, wins the absolute clueless bitch award. Palin was chosen for unelectability. Obama was chosen for his palatability. END OF LINE.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
5. Re:Hmmm ... by WilyCoder · 2011-02-05 02:21 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  ^^^ Exactly. In a thread about Palin, they want to discuss Obama.
6. Re:Hmmm ... by Greyfox · 2011-02-05 02:46 · Score: 3
  
  Now that Ted Stephens is no longer with us, I propose "That jackass from alaska".
  
  --
  I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
7. Re:Hmmm ... by uncanny · 2011-02-05 02:46 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Can we extend it to the whole year of 2011?
8. Re:Hmmm ... by Hugh+Pickens+writes · 2011-02-05 05:00 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Trademark is a geek issue that has been discussed dozens of times on slashdot along with similar intellectual property issues like copyright and patent.
  
  The issue of why a public figure might decide to trademark their name is an interesting one and the comments today have brought forward a number of illuminating answers.
  
  As for being ideological, I strongly suspect the article would still have been published on slashdot if Barack Obama or if John McCain had decided to trademark his name.
  
  --
  Ponca City, We Love You
1st Amendment by Jaysyn · 2011-02-05 01:17 · Score: 4, Insightful

$10 says she uses this as a club to try to quell speech that she doesn't like.

--
There is a war going on for your mind.
1. Re:1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-02-05 01:40 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  How thick are you? Using her trademark registration "as a club to try to quell speech" is not a literal statement. There is no suggestion of violence. Nobody is claiming that she is somehow going to take the registration, make a knobbly club out of it (perhaps using the techniques of papier mache) and beat people she dislikes with the resultant weapon. Just in case you forgot the start of that sentence by the time you got to the end of it: NOBODY IS SUGGESTING THIS.
  Moron.
2. Re:1st Amendment by amiga3D · 2011-02-05 01:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You need to pay more attention. It's those in power who routinely try to shut down other's speech. Whether they are left or right seems to matter little. Power corrupts most of them it seems.
  Maybe it's just the human condition, hence the founding fathers' attempts at limiting governments power.
3. Re:1st Amendment by WrongSizeGlass · 2011-02-05 01:46 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  $10 says she uses this as a club to try to quell speech that she doesn't like.
  [Citation Needed] as I have seen nothing to imply that Sarah Palin wants to user violence to quell speech.
  The club is a metaphor ... just like the ponies on /., they represent something other than their specific definitions.
4. Re:1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-02-05 01:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Glenn Beck has used this tactic in the past. It didn't work. But he tried to have DidGlennBeckRapeAndMurderAYoungGirlIn1990.com shut down because it violated the trademark of his name. But I'm sure if you research this further, you'll see that this tactic is tried time and again by many people of many political walks of life. I have no doubt Palin will try it at some point. Perhaps she'll reserve it for something that is exceedingly offensive or perhaps she'll sue the first liberal blogger that calls her dumb as hair. Either way it is apparent that it is a legal tactic that is irresistible to people.
5. Re:1st Amendment by cyber-vandal · 2011-02-05 01:54 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  That'll be the Fox News that argued successfully that it had the constitutional right to lie to its viewers.
6. Re:1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-02-05 02:05 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Scott Adams said it best
  When_Did_Ignorance_Become_A_Point_Of_View
7. Re:1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-02-05 02:17 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  >>$10 says she uses this as a club to try to quell speech that she doesn't like.
  > You need to pay more attention. It's the people on the left who are the ones who routinely look to shut down others'
  > speech.
  Interesting... a post from an alternate universe.
8. Re:1st Amendment by PopeRatzo · 2011-02-05 02:45 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I've heard people say that talk radio should be forced to give equal time to left wing shows like Randy Rhodes that they give to right wing shows like Rush Limbaugh.
  No, you have not heard that. You made that up.
  You may have heard Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh complaining that people are saying that, but nobody is saying that.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
9. Re:1st Amendment by nstlgc · 2011-02-05 03:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I call troll for literally interpreting "as a club" to mean something violent, but I'll bite: So I guess that when she said Julian Assange should be treated in the same way the US treats terrorists, she didn't imply use violence to quell speech?
  
  --
  I'm Rocco. I'm the +5 Funny man.
10. Re:1st Amendment by iter8 · 2011-02-05 03:41 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I think there's enough blame to go around. Just take a look at The EFF online free speech cases to see that there are lots of folks looking to suppress somebody's speech: corporations, government, schools, etc. And that's only online. Blaming only the left doesn't get close to covering the whole collection of people with an interest in keeping someone from saying something they don't especially like.
Maybe she's not a politician by js3 · 2011-02-05 01:20 · Score: 3, Informative

Maybe.. she's an entertainer pretending to be a politicans, infact did you know people PAY to hear the dumbest woman on the earth speak?

--
did you forget to take your meds?
1. Re:Maybe she's not a politician by fermion · 2011-02-05 04:02 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That is the trend right now. The issue is that when one is actually trying to effect change, people like her really screw it up. For instance Sarah Palin came to Houston to speak at a forced birther conference. The conference happened to be held just before the gubernatorial race between the socially conservative Republican incumbent and the fiscally conservative Democratic contender. Now people in Texas are pretty conservative, and while many people don't believe in forcing birth, many are capable of discussing it, even those who do not vote republican. So what did Sarah Palin do: she started with a pitch for the Governor and pretty much insulted everyone that was not going to vote for him. Now remember, Texas is conservative. Many people who voted against the Governor, Perry, did so because he is fiscal liberal(his policies of hiding fiscal incompetence resulted in 25% budget shortfall for the coming budget) while knowing full well that the legislature would remain very socially conservative. While this would mean that no laws would be passed allowed doctors to assist in the suicide of the mother so that the child might live, neither would we have an increase in the number of 12 years girls who sell themselves for lottery tickets knowing they can get a easily available and safe termination. There was not reason for Sarah Palin to promote Perry in such a venue. It did not help the plight of the unborn child. It only helped Sarah Palin the prostitute sell herself.
  And this is why mixing entertainment and politics is wrongs. Entertainment is there to encourage people to pay to here you talk. Politics is there so people can have fair representatives to protect their interests as much as possible. Sarah Palin, as an entertainer, did not protect the interest of the unborn child. She used the unborn child to line her pocket as an entertainer, and in the process reduced the possibility that we as a country can come together and discuss the issue rationally. Now, I don't want to pick on Sarah Palin. There are entertainers on all sides of all issues that are willing to harm the democratic debate to personally promote their earning potential. These people we do not need.
  
  --
  "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
The Summary Answers Itself... by damn_registrars · 2011-02-05 01:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

From the front page summary:

more common for celebrities in the fields of entertainment, fashion or sports
She is clearly in entertainment - how many TV shows are about her right now?

She is also in fashion - we all heard about her massive wardrobe budget when she was campaigning with McCain.

And her entertainment is sport - at least to her. She tells us about her heroic helicopter hunting trips, and her husbands awesome snowmobile races. Those definitely count as sport where she is.

--
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Re:Wicked Witch of the West by amiga3D · 2011-02-05 02:04 · Score: 3, Funny

Ah! I didn't know that. It's gotten to the point that Pelosi could be trademarked too. Nothing tops "We've got to pass it to find out what's in it." It just doesn't get any better than that.
Re:Trade marking names by sunderland56 · 2011-02-05 05:15 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm sure that all the other women in the world that had the incredible bad luck to be named "sarah palin" have already changed their names.