beutifulstrangr
Mar 16th, 2004, 06:57 PM
'In The Zone' is more than just a new record by pop star Britney Spears. It is also one of two federally registered trademarks of the name owned by San Diegan Rodd Garner, a local retailer of sports apparel. He's suing.
Garner's 20-year-old company Lite Breeze in Pacific Beach sells sportswear such as T-shirts, jackets and sweats to school groups, nonprofit entities and universities. The items are typically purchased in large volumes for special events and team sports.
The singer was in San Diego March 2 for the opening of her Onyx Hotel Tour, which includes 25 cities in the United States and Canada. She is promoting her record, which was released last November. Spears was also selling apparel with the name until at least Feb. 2, when an attorney for Garner purchased one online for $19.95. Spears' official online store is no longer selling apparel with the name.
Spears' use of the mark has created 'reverse confusion' for Garner's customers, according to his attorney Charles Reidelbach, who chairs the intellectual property division at San Diego's Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP. Garner's customers could confuse the name on his products with Spears' record and come to believe there is some association, or, worse perhaps, that Garner stole the name from the singer. This would destroy the 'good will' Garner has established in building his business, Reidelbach said Thursday.
He believes this is a classic case of David being pushed by Goliath. In a lawsuit filed Feb. 17 in federal district court in San Diego, Reidelbach asks the court to issue an injunction restraining Spears from using the name In the Zone in connection with clothing, musical recordings or entertainment services. In addition to trademarks on the name for clothing and sportswear, Garner has a trademark pending for recorded music and performances.
Reidelbach said Garner hopes to license the name to musical entertainers. The lawsuit also requests an accounting of the defendant's profits resulting from the alleged trademark infringement. The claim sets damages at $10 million, although Reidelbach acknowledged the figure is a 'guesstimate.' Finally, the plaintiff is asking that all materials using the name that have been produced by Spears be surrendered for destruction.
What he and his client are hoping for is a settlement; although it is not clear one is forthcoming. Peter Anderson, Spears' attorney in Santa Monica, Calif., did not return a call requesting comment on the case; however, Reidelbach said Anderson has indicated Spears' defense team believes the case lacks merit.
'My client is not greedy, he's not wanting to siphon everything away from her, he just wants a fair and reasonable settlement,' Reidelbach said. The lawsuit cites as defendants Spears, Jive Records, Clear Channel Entertainment Television holdings, which is promoting her concert tour, and Signatures Network Inc., a San Francisco company that operates the singer's online store. Representatives of Clear Channel,
Jive Records and Signatures Network also did not respond to requests for comments. Garner is out of the country and unreachable.
Reidelbach feels confident Spears would want to settle given the strength of the case. He has not served the defendants with the lawsuit but will if there is no offer to mediate or settle the case. Garner previously spent six years and more than $150,000 to successfully stop the use of the trademark by Kinney Shoes Corp., according to Reidelbach. And as a legal precedent, Reidelbach cites a 1998 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that found against the Hollywood DreamWorks SKG studio in a lawsuit brought by a lesser-known Florida-based producer of science fiction conventions, Dreamwerks Production Group. The appellate court overturned a lower court's decision, enabling the plaintiff to go to trial. The parties eventually settled the case, which Reidelbach said is similar.
Federally registered trademarks are searchable online at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov. Reidelbach said it would have been simple enough for Spears to do. His own firm employs a private company to conduct complex searches for trademarks.
'Britney should have performed the search on clothing, on products, on services that she intends to use the name on prior to using it,' Reidelbach said. 'The fact that there's two marks registered should have just jumped out. Which makes me wonder whether they did know about it and thought that he was just a small player and that they would deal with it later if it became an issue. That I don't know. I can't say.'
Source: The Daily Transcript (San Diego)
Thanks to: Nina
Posted by Ruben
ZzzzzZzzzz.....
Garner's 20-year-old company Lite Breeze in Pacific Beach sells sportswear such as T-shirts, jackets and sweats to school groups, nonprofit entities and universities. The items are typically purchased in large volumes for special events and team sports.
The singer was in San Diego March 2 for the opening of her Onyx Hotel Tour, which includes 25 cities in the United States and Canada. She is promoting her record, which was released last November. Spears was also selling apparel with the name until at least Feb. 2, when an attorney for Garner purchased one online for $19.95. Spears' official online store is no longer selling apparel with the name.
Spears' use of the mark has created 'reverse confusion' for Garner's customers, according to his attorney Charles Reidelbach, who chairs the intellectual property division at San Diego's Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP. Garner's customers could confuse the name on his products with Spears' record and come to believe there is some association, or, worse perhaps, that Garner stole the name from the singer. This would destroy the 'good will' Garner has established in building his business, Reidelbach said Thursday.
He believes this is a classic case of David being pushed by Goliath. In a lawsuit filed Feb. 17 in federal district court in San Diego, Reidelbach asks the court to issue an injunction restraining Spears from using the name In the Zone in connection with clothing, musical recordings or entertainment services. In addition to trademarks on the name for clothing and sportswear, Garner has a trademark pending for recorded music and performances.
Reidelbach said Garner hopes to license the name to musical entertainers. The lawsuit also requests an accounting of the defendant's profits resulting from the alleged trademark infringement. The claim sets damages at $10 million, although Reidelbach acknowledged the figure is a 'guesstimate.' Finally, the plaintiff is asking that all materials using the name that have been produced by Spears be surrendered for destruction.
What he and his client are hoping for is a settlement; although it is not clear one is forthcoming. Peter Anderson, Spears' attorney in Santa Monica, Calif., did not return a call requesting comment on the case; however, Reidelbach said Anderson has indicated Spears' defense team believes the case lacks merit.
'My client is not greedy, he's not wanting to siphon everything away from her, he just wants a fair and reasonable settlement,' Reidelbach said. The lawsuit cites as defendants Spears, Jive Records, Clear Channel Entertainment Television holdings, which is promoting her concert tour, and Signatures Network Inc., a San Francisco company that operates the singer's online store. Representatives of Clear Channel,
Jive Records and Signatures Network also did not respond to requests for comments. Garner is out of the country and unreachable.
Reidelbach feels confident Spears would want to settle given the strength of the case. He has not served the defendants with the lawsuit but will if there is no offer to mediate or settle the case. Garner previously spent six years and more than $150,000 to successfully stop the use of the trademark by Kinney Shoes Corp., according to Reidelbach. And as a legal precedent, Reidelbach cites a 1998 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that found against the Hollywood DreamWorks SKG studio in a lawsuit brought by a lesser-known Florida-based producer of science fiction conventions, Dreamwerks Production Group. The appellate court overturned a lower court's decision, enabling the plaintiff to go to trial. The parties eventually settled the case, which Reidelbach said is similar.
Federally registered trademarks are searchable online at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov. Reidelbach said it would have been simple enough for Spears to do. His own firm employs a private company to conduct complex searches for trademarks.
'Britney should have performed the search on clothing, on products, on services that she intends to use the name on prior to using it,' Reidelbach said. 'The fact that there's two marks registered should have just jumped out. Which makes me wonder whether they did know about it and thought that he was just a small player and that they would deal with it later if it became an issue. That I don't know. I can't say.'
Source: The Daily Transcript (San Diego)
Thanks to: Nina
Posted by Ruben
ZzzzzZzzzz.....