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Trademark Trolls Stops University Nicknames
chipperdog writes: Trademark and patent trolls have even found their way in complicating a university nickname selection, with people admitting to registering nicknames with the trademark office just to stop them or get rich off of them. The Grand Forks Herald reports: "The search for a new University of North Dakota nickname hit a potential new stumbling block on Monday, when former Bismarck mayor Marlan 'Hawk' Haakenson registered trade names for several of the Fighting Sioux replacement options under consideration. Haakenson said he registered the trade names in an attempt to interfere with the nickname selection process, though a UND official said such an attempt was unlikely to succeed."
Except that we have an insider who uses the knowledge that the future use of a trademark is under consideration, and registers it purely with the intent of interfering. I think it would be a useful deterrent for the law to treat this as infringement despite the fact that the malicious registrant beat the legitimate user to the punch. Likewise for patents - patent holders who register vague patents for obvious future inventions without the intention or even technical knowhow to actually produce a working invention should get their own claims for damages thrown back at them.
Which is fine, as long as he is a university sports association, of course if he is not, than the trademark just shows a dick with no understanding of law being a dick. So blocked not so much and courts will toss it out.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Actually - you ought to ask the warriors of the tribes how they feel about being so honored. Yeah, you can ask the women too, but most definitely talk to the warriors.
All that you have stated here, is that you do not respect warriors. You are incapable of understanding the honor of being remembered as great fighters. If you live someplace where there are no Native Americans to speak to, then you should at least talk to some military veterans. We are everywhere, there's not a chance in hell that you can't find some veterans to talk to.
As for myself, I have Native American blood in my veins, I live close to reservations, and I've worked with members of several tribes for much of my adult life. With few exceptions, all of the American Indians I've ever known take some pride in those teams named after the tribes. I hear some objections, but the overwhelming majority are proud of their fighting history.
The single strongest objection to the use of tribal names, is that the pale faces don't really appreciate the history of the tribes, much less the culture. Mostly, they laugh at the white man for being ignorant.
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