RE: Logo Infringement

["L. M. Lloyd" <ubik@austin.rr.com>]

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The answer to all of your questions is, in a word, YES. I am sorry if
you think it is ridiculous (just for the record I think it is pretty
ridiculous as well) but that is how the law works. No matter how
outrageous you think the law is, that does not change the law.

Taking your questions one at a time now:

> Can they sue me if I make my very own custom shirt,
> for my own wearing pleasure and not for sale, but it
> happens to contain a VW logo?

YES. I once worked for a film company that successfully sued a fan
for making a shirt that contained one of their trademarks, and
wearing it repeatedly at conventions. In case you care, their reason
for doing this was because they felt this rather outspoken individual
would be mistaken as some sort of representative of their company. At
any rate, the were able to get a court cease and desist order, and
when I left, the case for damages was still pending.

> If I made a bunch of
> Rice Krispy treats in the shape of VW emblems and gave
> them away to friends at a show, is that illegal? Would
> I be misrepresenting the VW brand because those treats
> turn out to taste like crap? 

YES. Disney has successfully sued many people over their sole
ownership of food in the likeness of one of their characters. The
issue would not be that they tasted good or bad, but rather that you
had chosen to make them in the shape of a company trademark.

> Would people confuse me
> as a representative of VW because I'm handing out said
> treats? 

I can not say whether or not people would honestly mistake you for a
VW rep, but I can tell you that if some kid choked to death on the VW
shaped treat, that you handed out at a VW show, while wearing a
T-shirt with the VW logo, it is 90% certain that the parent's lawyer
would seek damages from VWoA, and it is 60% certain that VWoA would
settle out of court to avoid the awful publicity.

> Is everybody at VW shows that make their own
> VW emblem shaped items to enhance their vehicle in
> violation of the trademark laws because VW never
> intended to market an item like that? 

YES. In fact, any time anyone makes anything in the likeness of the
VW logo, they are in violation of the trademark law.


> And the argument of somebody chopping their hand off
> because they read it on a site that had a VW log on it
> is also ludicrous. 

You are right, it is ridiculous, but as I illustrated in the post, a
lawsuit being ridiculous does not stop the plaintiff from winning
damages.


> What about the mention of the brand
> VW on a site? Is that not a trademark infraction since
> you mentioned VW, and the Roman Letters VW appear on
> your webpage?

No company can do anything to stop peoples ability to publish
opinions about them. You can talk about VW as much as you want, as
long as you don't use their V over W logo.

> Does anybody actually know of a case where somebody
> was successfully sued for using an
> emblem/logo/name/caricature on their site in a
> non-commercial, non-discriminatory, non-profit,
> non-slanderous way?

YES. Warner Bros., Disney, Fox, and Sony have all successfully sued
fan sites dedicated to shows owned by those studios. The studio I
worked for, at any given time, had at least one pending legal action
against a non-commercial fan group or individual, and they usually
got what they wanted from the judge, which was a cease and desist
order. It was a long standing policy at that company that ANY site
using images or sounds from one of their copyrighted properties would
be immediately contacted as soon as any employee came across the
site.






The goal is to overcome the deliberate nature of the process. 


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