In the world of advertising, communications, and marketing,
people are very protective of their intellectual property, time, and
ideas. From trademarking logos and
slogans, to copyrighting different forms of art and protecting trade secrets,
the communications industry is very concerned with the possible legal
liabilities that come with working in this business. Numerous cases can serve as examples or
cautionary tales when it comes to these subjects, three of them which
especially call to my attention.
In early 2014, a very interesting trademarking case came
about when founder and CEO of LRN, Dov Seidman sued Greek yogurt company Chobani and their advertising firm Droga5 for their use of the word “how” in
Chobani’s “How Matters” campaign. Seidman
claimed that LRN had trademarked the use of the word “how” that Chobani was implementing
for their campaign, which appointed to the ethical way the product was created,
just as LRN had done in the past. Chobani denied they knew about this trademark
protection by LRN and asked the court to deny it. Being that the word “how” falls under the
generic word category when it comes to trademarking, the question lies on
whether or not LRN should be able to trademark their use of the word. Since
Chobani and LRN are not competitors and do not share market or any of the same
industry, is Chobani using the word “how” in this context hurting LRN’s
business or confusing their clients? This
case only leads us to think, what else can be trademarked this way? It all depends on whether or not the company
can show that consumers associate the generic word to their specific product or
service, and to nothing else.
Another controversial trademark case involves The Walt
Disney Company and one of their upcoming Pixar animated movies inspired by the Mexican holiday of “Día de los Muertos.”
Disney is set to release the animated feature later this year, however,
when the company tried to trademark the term “Día de los Muertos” to protect
any potential movie title, online communities got heated. After several petitions were filed and
communities all around the country put pressure on Disney, they decided to
withdraw the trademark filing and change the title of the film. Trademarking a national holiday’s name and
profiting from not permitting its use in its very own country proved to be an
insensitive and disrespectful move from The Walt Disney Company to the Latin
American community.
Leaving the topic of trademarks and going into another
important and relevant matter in the communications world is the significance
of partnership agreements. Everything in
communications and marketing revolves around partnership and teamwork, so it is
no surprise that this matter is so influential in today’s industry. A controversial and pertinent case is that of
the creation of Facebook. Mark
Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, has been part of this dispute for over
10 years. Since he launched the website
in 2004, Zuckerberg has been accused by three former Harvard students of
stealing the idea for the website from them.
Zuckerberg’s side states that he was approached about working on a
website with Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, but
never had the time to work on it, before he released his (previously though of)
idea: The Facebook. This case states the
importance of a partnership agreement and points to what could happen if no
actual clauses or contracts have been officially drafted. As Massachusetts Judge Douglas P. Woodlock
stated in this case, “dorm room chit-chat does not make a contract.” This social network dispute has been going on
for over a decade and even though a settlement was reached, there are still
many sides to the story from different parties. This case specifically shows the importance of
a well-written contract, even for projects that start out small, such as
Facebook started out.
After researching on these and several other cases
pertaining certain liabilities in the industry, my views on legal ramifications
have changed. As a potential business
owner, copyrighting and partnership agreements will be some of the many legal
liabilities to watch for. In the
marketing and advertising industry researching trademarks and knowing the ins
and outs of it will be crucial, all the while maintaining a respectful and
compassionate view on the world. Ultimately,
my business in this industry will rely on partnerships and teamwork, which will
only be able to function correctly under clear, specific, and fair partnership
and employee contracts.
