Should Chik-fil-A be able to use a trademark on “Eat More Chikin” for clothing to prevent  registration of “Eat More Kale”?   Brandaide wants your opinion.

If you saw EAT MORE KALE on a t-shirt, would you be confused and think the shirt was affiliated or sponsored by the owner of EAT MORE CHIKIN for clothing? Chik-fil-A thinks so and has brought out the moo team to prove it. A pending trademark application battle is pitting the cows and chikins against the kale farmers. Chik-fil-A’s cows are stampeding in an effort to trample a member of the healthy eating Kale crowd and stop his use of EAT MORE KALE on clothing and printed items. Are the chikins and the cows feeling a bit insecure or do they really need kale on their team?

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Imagine you’re a professional photographer who finds yourself at the scene of an apocalyptic tragedy. You rush to document the unfolding events by rapidly photographing everything you can, even the disturbing aftermath. You’re simultaneously focused and emotionally impacted, while being mindful that your job is an important one: you’re documenting history while at the same time paying homage to the plight of the victims.

During such a scenario, you’d be forgiven for not considering the extended implications of posting such historically relevant material to social media streams. Instead, you’d be more concerned with issues of immediacy, making sure to broadcast suitable photographic evidence so that relatives and rescue workers could use such content in appropriate ways.

In the passion of photo journalistic reporting, you probably wouldn’t be concerning yourself with are the intricacies of copyright law as applied to the photos being posted on Twitter.

You probably would not have taken time to complete and file a copyright application with the U.S. Copyright Office to protect your rights prior to posting your photos. You would, however, be very keen to determine such rights if you were subsequently made aware of your photos being disseminated widely – all without your permission – by professional publishing channels.

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Last Wednesday I found myself engaged in my usual morning social media catch-up. During this daily ritual of scrolling through my Facebook news feed, I began to notice rapid multiple shares (and likes) of a particularly striking photo of a tousled gentleman drinking coffee.

Each share of the photo was accompanied by text written in several non-English languages, including Italian and Spanish. Intrigued by the growing impact and re-share value of the posting in my largely English-speaking networked circles, I wanted to know more about the story behind the photo.

It turns out the story behind the rapid photo sharing is indeed fascinating. The photo was “originally” shared by the Spanish Social Networking Consultant Yoriento. Yoriento used the photo as a story hinge for his post discussing “Coffee in Suspense.”

Coffee in Suspense is a decades-old Italian tradition of ordering and paying for multiple coffees at specific cafes, but only drinking a single cup.

People in need can then inquire if there are any prepaid coffees (or sospesos) “in the queue.”   If so, those in need are then served a coffee for free. The practice has apparently made a widespread resurgence due to the ongoing effects of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)  has brought another layer of complexity to protecting trademarks from being poached as part of a domain name.  As of March 26 2013 trademark owners may now submit their brand names to be included in the new Trademark Clearinghouse.  The stated goal is to serve as a centralized database of verified information in order that trademark holders throughout the world can better protect their rights on the Internet.

Trademark owners may now submit their brand names to be included in the new Trademark Clearinghouse.

The Trademark Clearinghouse allows brand owners to register second level domain names containing trademarks with the registry to allow the gTLD operators and registry to better deal with anticipated trademark infringement claims.  An example:  www.yourbrand.london

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Can employers be held liable as a result of social media posts made in the heat of anger, namely keystroke crimes of passion? According to a recent case involving saloon chain Coyote Ugly, the answer may well be “yes.” A judge in the federal court for the Middle District of Tennessee recently refused to dismiss retaliation claims filed by two employees who had already filed a lawsuit against Coyote Ugly. In the suit, the two are claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). A retaliation claim is one filed by an employee for being fired, or otherwise unfairly treated for having exercise protected rights such as voicing a complaint or filing a claim against an employer.

 

Posting negative comments about employees in social media may indeed give rise to retaliation or defamation claims by employees.

This case involves some blatantly “ugly” behavior by Coyote Ugly executives. After two employees filed a FLSA claim, the president of the company mentioned the lawsuit in a blog post. In the post, the President claimed one unnamed employee was fired for theft, about whom the president posted, “Fxxx that bxxxx.”

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