Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Other Diversions › After Hours Lounge › The Latest Legal Battle over a number: 22
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

The Latest Legal Battle over a number: 22

post #1 of 30
8/29/03 at 4:17pm
Thread Starter 
That's right. Abercrombie & Fitch claims ownership of the number 22 and will sue to stop other from using it.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/030823/aberc...lawsuit_1.html
Reply
post #2 of 30
8/29/03 at 6:26pm
22

There, take that Fitch! :p)
Reply
post #3 of 30
8/29/03 at 7:13pm


I suspect that Duce Staley is behind this lawsuit...

Brad
Reply
post #4 of 30
8/30/03 at 2:15am
Do I have to pay royalties if I add 10+12?
Quote:
"The suit speaks for itself," Abercrombie spokesman Tom Lennox said.

Yes, and it's saying "I'm a useless publicity stunt that is very likely to backfire miserably".
Reply
post #5 of 30
8/30/03 at 5:51am
My 9 yr old will be overjoyed when she finds out that "11x2=?" has dropped out of her multiplication tables.
Reply
post #6 of 30
8/30/03 at 12:29pm
I guess we'll need to burn copies of the book Catch-22.
Reply
post #7 of 30
8/30/03 at 5:44pm
Intel found out a few years ago that you can't trademark a number. That's why they stopped giving their chips names like 80486 & went with words like Pentium that could be trademarked.
Reply
post #8 of 30
8/30/03 at 6:20pm
Abercrombie sucks. They'll get as far w/ that as Intel did trying to trademark 386, 486, x86, etc. Just a desperate bid for attention by a clothes company that will die like all the other clothing fads - Z. Cavaricci, FUBU, etc.
Reply
post #9 of 30
8/30/03 at 6:24pm
Good point Chris, I'd say they're not going to get far with this. If they had a specific style of printing they could claim the logo, but they can't claim any more than that. Hopefully the judge that gets this case will give them a good smack down like Fox got.

Since it appears that they are just going after the use of the number 22, I'd say that means they have to go after every sports franchise that sells jerseys with a 22 on it, because they too are diluting the mark.
Reply
post #10 of 30
8/30/03 at 6:37pm
In my Fair and Balanced™ opinion this law suit is silly.
Reply
post #11 of 30
8/30/03 at 7:07pm
A&F clothes suck anyways. Haven't they heard of an iron?
Reply
post #12 of 30
8/30/03 at 8:01pm
I'm going to trademark the letter "A".

Hurry up and use it while you still cn.
Reply
post #13 of 30
8/30/03 at 8:17pm
Dmn you!
Reply
post #14 of 30
8/31/03 at 3:25pm
Doesnt Porsche have 911, 914, 944, 996, and a few others trademarked?
Reply
post #15 of 30
8/31/03 at 4:05pm
I don't think so Devin. On their website they have the following:
Quote:
Porsche, Porsche Crest, Porsche Design, Carrera, Targa, Tiptronic, Porsche Speedster, Varioram, CVTip, VarioCam, Boxster, Cayenne, Porsche Cayenne, Tequipment, "Porsche. There is no Substitute." , RS, Porsche Bike FS, Porsche Bike S, Pan Americana, PCCB, PCM, Technorad, Varrera, and other Porsche product names, model numbers, logos, commercial symbols, trade names and slogans are trademarks and the distinctive shapes of Porsche automobiles are trade dress of Dr.Ing. h.c. F.Porsche AG ("PAG") and are protected by U.S. and international trademark laws.

As you can see none of the numbers are listed. It's just not allowed. Josh's example of 80486 is very much true. In fact as Intel changed the processor, I believed they changed the official name to i486DX or something like that. Combinations of numbers and letters can be trademarked, numbers alone cannot.
Reply
post #16 of 30
8/31/03 at 11:41pm
Oh, ok. I just remember reading about a product (I cant remember what now) that wanted to use a 9xx number in the name, but didnt because of a lawsuit threat from Porsche.
Reply
post #17 of 30
8/31/03 at 11:43pm
then again, looking at the quote above...

Quote:
and other Porsche product names, model numbers , logos, commercial symbols, trade names and slogans are trademarks and the distinctive shapes of Porsche automobiles are trade dress of Dr.Ing. h.c. F.Porsche AG ("PAG") and are protected by U.S. and international trademark laws.
Reply
post #18 of 30
9/1/03 at 12:12am
I guess that nullifies my 22nd birthday. Am I just one year younger or am I still 21?
Reply
post #19 of 30
9/1/03 at 4:23am
Was there only one Agent 007?
Reply
post #20 of 30
9/1/03 at 4:42am
The legal profession has become a monumental joke. Problem is, it's not funny.
Reply
post #21 of 30
9/1/03 at 7:47am
http://www.amerilawyer.com/trademark/tm_tradedress.htm

Trade dress and trade marks are not the same things as copyrights.

Another clothing store is seeking to capitalize on the 'value' of the number 22, as it is associated with AF. The same way McDonalds 'owns' the colors red and yellow and the arch, AF contends it 'owns' the number 22.

Now, the fact that it's a number, they never registered it and that AF has sued people in the past (unsucesfully) for producing 'knock offs' doesn't make a great case for them, but it's not some company going sue-crazy.

These laws actually protect both the companies in letting them build value into the brand, and the consumers, so companies can't attempt to dupe people into purchasing their product or service.

Also, if a company fails to protect their trademarks (or perceived trademarks) then they become invalid. Asprin, cellophane, and escalator are all brand names. Or, at least, they used to be. Ever own anything made out of lycra? That seems to have become generic too; it's a brand-name for spandex.

(IANAL )
Reply
post #22 of 30
9/1/03 at 10:07am
The local police radio code for "Signal 22" is for a demented person.
Reply
post #23 of 30
9/1/03 at 10:47am
Like some one who would pay 45 bucks for some poor quality t-shirt.
Reply
post #24 of 30
9/1/03 at 11:35am
I guess I didn't read close enough Devin. In their case they've registered the trademark for 911 as a car name, and no one else could use those numbers as part of a car name. That's fair. But cop cars still have 911 on the side of them. Still Intel didn't have a case with 80486 and the like.

It has to be fairly specific though. In the case of McDonalds, their trademark registration includes the M logo, as well as a detailed description of it. For A&F to have a case they'd have to show that their use of the number 22 is very specific, i.e. a particular font and other features of the printing, and the other company would have to be mimicing that. If they use more than the number 22 on their clothing, they're going to have to show how come that one is significant.

One thing is I think it's going to be hard for a three year old chain to claim this. I don't think a sizable percentage of the people in the US associate the number 22 with anyone except certain football players. Granted A&F is known for catalogs with teens posing in sexually suggestive manners, or thongs for young girls, I'm sure they can patent that business model and sue people over it, after all they're known more for than that than anyone else. But just putting the number 22 on their clothing doesn't make it identifiable.
Reply
post #25 of 30
9/1/03 at 3:19pm
So if Porsche could trademark a number, why couldn't Intel? Something's not right here.
Reply
post #26 of 30
9/1/03 at 6:59pm
Because, I imagine, when Intel tried to trademark "80486", AMD and the like were already using it - Intel couldn't make their claim that those numbers were closely identified with their products stick.
Reply
post #27 of 30
9/1/03 at 7:20pm
As has been said before, you can't trademark numbers or colors. You can only sue if the number or colors are used in a similar fashion so that consumers will have a difficult time distinguishing between the two. In all cases, it is up to a judge to decide if consumers will have a difficult time distinguishing between the two. I haven't really seen the shirts but if both shirts only have the number 22 on them with no other distinctions such as a logo or different fonts, then I think A & F has a case. However, to claim that they own the number 22 is ridiculous. This is just a publicity stunt by A & F to get some exposure. I have a feeling I'll be seeing alot more people wearing shirts with 22 on it.
Reply
post #28 of 30
9/2/03 at 7:30am
Well my company trademarked the number '2'. So now I have TWO reasons to take on A&F! They took my number!!! TWICE!



Seriously...where does the lawsuit idiocy end? *sigh*
Reply
post #29 of 30
9/2/03 at 10:18am
Quote:
As has been said before, you can't trademark numbers or colors.

I thought Mattel had a trademark on the color Barbie Pink, which IIRC they have enforced in court.
Reply
post #30 of 30
9/2/03 at 10:21am
Maybe I'm out of touch but does anyone associate the number 22 with A&F?
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: After Hours Lounge
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Other Diversions › After Hours Lounge › The Latest Legal Battle over a number: 22