Best Buy Flexes Legal Muscles Over "Geek"

siliconbits writes "US Electronics retailer Best Buy has been slow but steady in the fight to protect its Geek Squad trademark, but some are wondering whether the 800-lb gorilla of the tech retailing sector is going too far in its war to right some wrongs. The word 'Geek' is a century-old word that used to mean 'fool' or 'crazy,' but has, since the beginning of the 1980s, been associated with fans of technology in general and computers in particular. That hasn't prevented a number of geek-themed companies from being hit by Best Buy's legal team over the last decade, including Geek Housecalls, Rent a Geek, Geek Rescue, Speak with A Geek and, not surprisingly, arch-rival Newegg."

Comments

Typical

[MikeB0Lton]

If you can't compete with them, sue them. It worked for SCO!

Re:Typical

[Quiet_Desperation]

It was ruled false advertising.

Re:Typical

[mikael_j]

So? "Geek" is a common term to describe, well, geeks. So to use the term "geek" as part of the name of a company or service that gives tech support to end users makes a lot of sense and I just don't see how it can be a protected term.

Re:Typical

[Mathinker]

> Or like Microsoft trademarking the word "Windows" in reference to their windowed
> application operating system/environment! That would never fly, Right?

Actually, IIRC, they were originally granted a trademark on "Windows" and "Word", but they chose to sue the wrong people (who had mega-$$) and they lost those trademarks --- IMO, they only have a (US) trademark now on "Microsoft Windows" and "Microsoft Word", not on the bare words, no matter what the context.

< checks WP >

No, they only practically lost the bare word Windows --- they bailed out of the litigation before the judge could rule it was invalid.

Frankly...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I'd say that the world's questionably-socially-adept technology enthusiasts have a much better defamation case against Best Buy's appropriation of the term for their "Geek Squad"...

Re:Frankly...

[nomadic]

At least they don't call it "the Genius Bar." Biggest. Misnomer. Ever.

Re:Frankly...

[Scragglykat]

That's because the true purpose of a Geek Squad employee is not to fix your technology, but to sell you NEW technology in its place. They are more a squad of technology salesmen (and women I assume) than tech support staff. I've had to tell someone who unwisely chose the Geek Squad to be their technology benefactor, that although GS told them their computer was consumed with malware and thus, the entire system would not start (see also, would not even post), and that the fix would be $50 less than the new system they could sell them which would then be ready to go right now, vs. a week or more later, that the new system they purchased from Best Buy on the "Geek's" recommendation was a waste of money. A quick flick of the power switch on the old machine alerted me to the fact that it did not even attempt to post and that the power light was flickering in a pattern. Quick Google search for power light error codes and what do I find? PSU is bad. $20 later, the machine is booted, I'm scanning away on the drive and finding absolutely nothing. Morale of the story is, they are salesmen and nothing more. They MAY be able to help you with something, but most of the time that help is going to lead to some additional sale.

Use in Commerce

[Theaetetus]

Before this thread goes off the rails about Best Buy trying to censor free speech, under US law (the Lanham Act), trademark rights apply only to uses in commerce. So you can be a geek, call people geeks, this article can discuss geeks, that's all fine. However, when you start a "Squad o'Geeks" computer repair service, only then are you going to run into a potential problem.

Note: this doesn't mean it's a slam dunk for Best Buy... Newegg's defense is that "geek" is a generic term, and it could well be. The point is just that trademarks only apply to commercial speech.

Re:Use in Commerce

[Theaetetus]

Apple is also a generic term, being the name of a fruit. How about I try to set up a computer company using it? I could use some new innovative core design and call my company Apple-core.

Apple is a generic term for apples. It's not a generic term for anything else. Specifically with regard to Apple Computers, it's an arbitrary term, which is one of the strongest protected categories of trademarks. More info here or here, essentially layman's guides to the Federal Circuit decision in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. vs. Hunting World, Inc.

Re:Use in Commerce

[bluefoxlucid]

Yes but that particular test is faulty because you can find "a" person who "doesn't give a shit and just wants this shit fixed" in 90% of the market. 90% of the market is not reasonable. 90% of the market that shows up at Best Buy's Geek Squad will think the Genius Bar at Apple is the same thing... Geek Squad, Geek Bar, whatever.

By the way, Best Buy says (internally--this is company proprietary information) that Geek Squad's revenue is supposed to be about 80%; however, each Geek Squad "Agent" gets paid $10.50-ish an hour, maybe $15/hour in the upper tiers, more for out-of-store service. In-store is 80%, which means a revenue of 5 times the $84/day you make, or $420/day in services sold. In truth, however, they push for around $200/hour or about $1600/day.

Think about it. If it's slow up front, one machine an hour is a $60 "diagnostic" service, already breaking (at $10.50/hr) the $52.50 you need to make. While there's no customers, you do all the bench work; it's minimal. Now, diagnostic is mandatory (if you come in saying "I have a virus" it's "We must do a diagnostic, $60"), but I *think* the actual repair is discounted ... so if it's a $30 repair, you pay $60 total.

But that'll get you in a load of trouble (I know, I was fired for minimizing profits), so what normally happens is they run the anti-virus installed and it can't remove a virus (funny) or otherwise doesn't fix the problem. Then they tell you, $70 to back up any files, $60 to re-install the OS, $30 to run Windows Update and apply all patches, $30 per software package (Anti-virus, Anti-Spyware, Office) being installed... totals out to a good $250, plus the original repair, over $300 for one customer.

I used to peer at the output and notice what was being found "protected" and irreparable; when you reboot, that file is encrypted and can't be scanned by the offline virus scanner, so it misses the virus. But since the online scanner told you it's in C:\Program Files\Common Files\wx3pd12.exe ... you go rename it to .ex_ and reboot. System works? Remove the file. Problem solved, and you just saved the customer $250 with 5 minutes of extra work. Now your supervisor is pissed and you get fired.

Re:let's get back to basics

[Tr3vin]

We prefer the term "Hungry American". We do not like being associated with those introverted computer nerds.

They Tarnish the name "Geek"

[MoldySpore]

If the "Geek Squad's" track record indicates anything, it is that they are not worthy of the title "geek" anything.

Anyone who brings their computer to Best Buy for service either 1) Has never brought their computer to best buy for service before, 2) Is too stupid to know any better, or 3) Have no friends who have even a remedial knowledge of IT.

Picture of infringement

[brainzach]

The title is misleading. Best Buy is defending uses of the word Geek in a context that can be confused with the brand Geek Squad.

Here is a photo of the alleged infringement.

After looking at the logos, it doesn't look like Best Buy has much of a case. I don't see how a reasonable person can confuse the two usages.

Big Box "Repair" Services

[JobyOne]

I hate big box repair services so much.

I once had what seemed to be a dud power supply, and I went to the Circuit City near my house because I knew they would have something that would work to replace it. I also figured they would have one of those gadgets for testing power supplies. So I took the power supply out and headed over.

Their support desk said they really preferred to troubleshoot the whole computer, then suggested I go home, put the power supply back in the case, then bring the whole thing back in and pay them $100 just to look at it. I said "no, it's almost certainly just the power supply, just plug it into that thing" and pointed at the tester sitting on the table next to them. After some convincing the guy finally did, and that was when it got *super* scam-tastic.

Luckily I could look over the counter and see that not all the green lights were on when he said "nope, looks like it works fine." I asked him why the +12V rail light hadn't come on, and he tried to tell me that it should work fine, even without +12V, and that that's normal. Of course that gave him an opening to try - again - to tell me to go home, put the (obviously defective) power supply back in the case and bring the whole thing in so they could get $100 just to put it on a shelf for a few days before calling me and saying "you don't have an operating system." To which I would say "no shit, I just built it and it's never even been powered on. Is the power supply broken? Of course it is, you dumb fucks."

If they had the balls to try and pull that shit on somebody like me, who comes in sporting a geek beard, holding a very fancy power supply and knowing at a glance which of their tools I need to borrow for 15 seconds...I shudder at the thought of what they must have pulled on people like - say - my mother.

I doubt any large chain repair service is any better. I hope the Geek Squad chokes and dies.

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