Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Trademarking the Smiley Face: the stupidest legal action ever

WalMart wants exclusive rights to use the icon but, to be fair, it's only because a London company is forcing the issue.

By the way, if you haven't yet claimed to have originated the Smiley Face, you need to get with the program.

4 comments:

HighJive said...

i read the london guy has made millions by trademarking the smiley face, which makes it a pretty smart legal action, in my opinion.

in wal-mart's case, i've always viewed it as the stupidest ad icon ever.

Irene Done said...

80 countries. 80 countries have allowed Smileyworld to trademark what is, in reality, a public domain icon. :)

(That was my first use of an emoticon ever!)

Tony Daniel said...

I have been considering trademarking the trademark. That way I could apply it to the cliches in my writing and make them look a little snazzier, while the competition continues to wallow in its own unmarked mediocrity. A writer will has to everything he can these days to get that telling competitive edge(TM)!

Irene Done said...

Trademarking the trademark? Not only does that have a Cosmo Kramer/coffee table book kind of brilliance to it, but I cannot wait to see corporate legal departments try to deal with that.

It's the best competitive edge(TM) ever!