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New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 19:28:59 2014 And this one's a corker. :)New Jersey sues over Florida pizza shop logo The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- The New Jersey Turnpike Authority wants a Florida pizza shop to pay a big toll for using a logo similar to the Garden State Parkway's green and yellow signs. The agency sued Jersey Boardwalk Pizza Tuesday in federal court over the logo it uses for its two pizza shops and on merchandise sold online. It said in the suit that the company is trying to trade upon the fame of the Garden State Parkway logo to attract customers and potential franchisees. JoyAnn Kenny, a lawyer with the Red Bank-based firm of Marks & Klein LLP, which represents the company, defended its use of the logo in a letter to turnpike authority lawyers included in the suit. She wrote that there's no way anyone would confuse a highway and a pizza place 1,300 miles away. "Given the very distinct difference in the goods and services offered by our respective clients (yours being a governmental agency providing highway maintenance and travel related services exclusively in the state of New Jersey — ours being a franchisor of pizza restaurants providing the opportunity to provide delicious pizza and Italian food to patrons of its licensed restaurants), there is no plausible likelihood of confusion," she wrote. The turnpike authority sued over two logos, one used by the pizza business and one by a franchising business it owns. Kenny said that logo for the restaurants was approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and has been used since April 2011. New Jersey says that "there is no question" that the logos "were directly copied and appropriated from Plaintiff's famous Garden State Parkway Logo." It asked a judge to require the company to stop using the logos and to destroy any merchandise that includes it. It calls the Garden State Parkway one of the most iconic and well known highways in the country. Its logo includes a green map of the state with a line showing the highway on a yellow background with the words "Garden State Parkway" written in yellow on a green background. Jersey Boardwalk Pizza also includes a green map of the state and its title written in yellow on a green background. --- The "offending" logo: 
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:38:14 2014, in response to New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 19:28:59 2014. Is that trademark or copyright? |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 20:44:02 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:38:14 2014. They're claiming both. Trademark is an unlikely win because there's a requirement to prove marketplace confusion. As long as the pizza joint's driveway doesn't take you to Kearney or the Amboys, they're fairly safe on that one. As to copyright, all sorts of silly things come into possible play such as the pantone colors on the sign. |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:45:45 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 20:44:02 2014. More proof we need copyright reform, I guess.I'm of the opinion that anything produced by a government should always be public domain. |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 20:49:05 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:45:45 2014. We've been needing it for a VERY long time. :(And yes, agreed particularly on stuff paid for by the general population in taxes and fees. If government doesn't like their logos being used for anything unlawful, there's always the criminal act of impersonation to fall behind. |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:54:09 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 20:49:05 2014. We've been needing it for a VERY long time. :(When your copyright laws say that anyone who uses the internet is committing copyright infringement, you need new copyright laws. And yes, agreed particularly on stuff paid for by the general population in taxes and fees. If government doesn't like their logos being used for anything unlawful, there's always the criminal act of impersonation to fall behind. Yeah, governments generally don't need copyright or trademark law to prevent people from falsely claiming to act on their behalf. |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 21:04:44 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by Nilet on Wed Jul 23 20:54:09 2014. The biggest problem with intellectual property law is that it's come down to lawyers deciding what is unique rather than seasoned professionals who can recognize that many of these claims are based on prior art and are therefore invalid to begin with. :( |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by Gamera on Thu Jul 24 01:57:44 2014, in response to New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 19:28:59 2014. Wonder if these guys paid royalties to the GSP 
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Jul 24 02:21:10 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by Gamera on Thu Jul 24 01:57:44 2014. Well ... now that Fat Gov's kids know about it, I'm sure they'll get on that shakedown list too. :( |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by orange blossom special on Thu Jul 24 21:14:01 2014, in response to New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Jul 23 19:28:59 2014. "famous" turnpike logos? Like really? Think all those immigrants on the border(all the way to the northern border) knows what the heck that logo is?Secondly, ignoring if this is a legitimate legal issue in this day and age, doesn't it seem odd that a public agency and public sign with public property can be so closely guarded that they'll go to other states and sue PIZZA shops over any similarity? Is the pizza shop profitting over some overpriced highway? Are people getting the two confused? Are they going to sue anyone who even uses the word Jersey one day? In a historical context and in common sense laypersons world, it seems rather odd. cue Mr wanna-be case law expert's response... |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Jul 24 22:16:13 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by orange blossom special on Thu Jul 24 21:14:01 2014. Try putting an upper case letter in a colored circle sometime and get to meet NY's finest. :) |
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Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser |
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Posted by orange blossom special on Fri Jul 25 12:05:01 2014, in response to Re: New Jersey the latest copyright abuser, posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Jul 24 22:16:13 2014. You quasi-helped my point. I bet more people, outside of our newest non-ID's democrats on the border, know the iconic subway logos much better than the "famous" Garden State Turnpike. |
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