Trademarks and Avoiding Consumer Confusion: Crash Course Intellectual Property #5

[@mikeharrington601]

This was a lot less boring than I thought it would be. This guy is cool.

[@procrastinator99]

I love the look on John's face when Obama said "don't forget to be awesome", its fantastic.

[@garethdean6382]

So... you're saying my Dill laptop I got on my trip to China may not be legit? But it comes with Macrosoft Doors!

[@Twixes3D]

Gareth Dean Wait, what!? Does that mean my Vietnamese Apel Mic Pro with Mic OS L isn't no real Apel?! BUT I BOUGHT IT FOR 1000 BUCKS!!! :C

[@naota3k]

Hahaha, "Like Samsong, or Wamsung, or Sony".

[@nettlescats3796]

naota3k The dollar store has a ton of that kind of stuff.

[@dannysulyma1259]

naota3k Sony-Sanyo ?!!

[@pulse2781]

Shots fired! Everyone get down, it's the Koreans V Japanese!

[@jonn_mace_80_95_]

SONY sucks nowadays. That's why.

[@KevintheBooth]

+jonn mace After "enjoying" the PS4 recently, I must agree.

[@alexyoung7319]

I love this video! I wish I had seen it before I started my business years ago because I got a cease and desist and had to change my company name. So, this time I did what is called comprehensive research. There was no way I was going to to change my name again. The new name I thought up was proved by the trademark company, not to be available, so the next name we researched and it was available. At least it only cost a a few hundred $, and a week, instead 4 years and $230,000 in lost sales. Sure it cost more to hire a research company, but when I saw the hundreds of pages of research that was done, and went over it with a trademark attorney - we knew we'd be able to keep the new name.

[@deshawnwashington9578]

Very relatable! Great job! I ended up having to swtich my business name, completely re-brand after already investing $5k into the business. I couldn't even sell what I had because another company already owned the name I wanted. Who I originally hired to file the trademark for me said they did research to be sure I was clear but clearly their research was not that great. I got rejected. I came across a different trademark company who I then hired to help me re-brand. They did comprehensive research, which is when you research for similarities at the federal, state and common law level. Long story short, they did a great job and now I have reached registration. It's been a roller coaster. Please be sure you get comprehensive research before starting your business!!!! The struggle of not investing into your business sooner is not worth it.

[@feigesi]

This series is really, really awesome and super helpful, Stan! Thank you, and thank you to the whole team!

[@trademarkexpress4803]

Great AND very entertaining introduction video about trademarks! The only thing to add is the need to do what is called COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH first to avoid infringement of existing goods and services in sound, appearance and meaning - when starting a business.

[@Fr00stee]

Swagsung would be a good knock off

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

1:40 Ouch, Sony burn.

[@fwray5337]

Fantastic video on an incredibly fuzzy subject. I'm sending this to Nance. I have a sneaky feeling she'll have a use for it. Thanks, Rob. GREAT find.

[@cryoshakespeare4465]

That bit about "genericide" was particularly interesting o.O :D

[@Ananta9817]

Can we get a crash course law? I imagine Stan would be perfect for the role.

[@kcircuit8684]

Sin sama OBJECTION!

[@trademarkexpress4803]

Hi Edmond, Call us! We do free consultations all the time. I see you posted here 2 years ago, but we can still review what you did then - if you already started your business. Plus, even if you started and trademarked a name, logo or slogan - there's upkeep to protect against infringers in sound, appearance or meaning. It is a mark's owner who has a duty, obligation to protect their own mark. Otherwise rights are lost if you allow another company to use the mark long enough. This is the role of COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL RESEARCH.

[@trademarkexpress4803]

Hi Ross, Of course! We are at 650 -948- 0530. Sorry I didn't see the email from KZbin earlier. It caught our filter. Thanks! Chris

[@Friemelkubus]

We're five episodes in and I'm still like "Oh they took intellectual property, that's pretty neat. Hadn't thought of that."

[@andy4an]

Two questions: 1) How many episodes will there be in this fine series? 2) Can you do an episode on fashion? That industry is remarkably open to copying.

[@naota3k]

Ah, 301+ views, but still full-HD. The sweet spot.

[@NutsinBrazil]

Yes, they have that kind of bandwidth in Antarctica. It is mostly sponsored by the governments that set up the research facilities in Antarctica as an antidote for isolation. Connecting researchers to the rest of the world helps their research and morale! Thanks for the awesome series!

[@JoshPowlison]

Fantastic series of videos. I wish I had this about a year ago when I spent hours of research on Copyright and IP. Thank you!

[@InnovAUChannel]

Great breakdown of Trademarks! Your explanations were clear and fun to watch... Great work!

[@book.lion1676]

Can we get crash course Physics :).

[@nlm2nd]

book.lion16 They're working on finding an awesome teacher and script writer for this course!

[@k3nny111]

nlm2nd Well, best choice would obviously be astrophysics black guy, though unlikely to be available.

[@Friemelkubus]

k3nny111 NDGT wouldn't work with the format tbh.

[@cuckoophendula8211]

If they did somehow get Neil DeGrasse Tyson, I'd have no choice but to nerdgasm.

[@akshayrathore2882]

Just watch Cosmos already

[@martini_blue_]

If the public is confused, there is a fairly good chance they are actually confused................ Nice explanation of #6.

[@sonicpsycho13]

Now I'm going to enjoy a nice Big Mick from MacDougall's and play my PolyStation 4.

[@megaTRISMAN]

7:38 - This is why Saul had to take down his billboard (Better Call Saul)

[@stephi6792]

could u explain more on that?

[@wbedard]

Great job, Stan! I learned quite a bit from this video.

[@pokabou1406]

In my yearbook a seniors quote was THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL -Bill nye the science guy

[@MrFinny95]

Stan is an amazing speaker.

[@Satosuke]

Trademark issues have become increasingly common in the world of beer, and I only see it continuing as more and more small craft operations pop up and/or expand.

[@sarahdangelo7061]

Did anybody else catch the mongol literally trading Mark to another character in the first few seconds?

[@madscientist7548]

Thanks for your knowledge. Knowledge that isn't shared is lost forever.

[@Socken1255]

how do trademarks apply internationally? Does one have to register ones trademark with the appropriate body of the all the countries in which one is trading seperately? Does this mean 2 similar trademarks could each be registered in different countries, preventing either company from easily expending into the other country even if their products or services have no similarities or overlap???

[@crashcourse]

Socken We're getting in to international intellectual property next week! -stan

[@Ddub1083]

Socken Above comment is wrong. You CAN register in other countries...and probably should if you intend to market in those countries. However, trademark protection does not require registration.... you can have a trademark if you intend that mark to be protected as your own. You indicate this by putting a TM next to it. Also, the fact they sell different products or services does not mean neither would own exclusive rights. Each just has exclusive marks in their particular market. So XXYY AUTO in New York and XXYY Soap in London both have the same trademark... XXYY Auto can still prevent other auto companies from using their mark the same that XXYY Soap can prevent other soap companies from using their mark... they just cant prevent EACH OTHER from using the mark if it wouldnt confuse any consumers. Now, a nonregisterd mark will be much more difficult to defend at any trial.... but it is not required. You likely wont be able to defend your mark being used internationally under the US trademark law but you could if the country its used in does have trademark protection (which most 1st world countries do, but certainly not all).

[@TiborUdvari]

Ddub1083 It's a little complicated, just look at the Arduino stuff that is going on between the US and Italy. Having a super famouse trademark might probably make these sort of cases easier.

[@JamesLewis2]

Socken I know there are cases where certain products had to change names between countries, because the name of the product in its original country was protected in another country; for example, the Sega Mega Drive was known as the Genesis in the US because of a trademark held by Mega Drive Systems, and Pocket Monsters was renamed to its Japanese contraction, Pokémon, because a US toy company had trademarked the phrase "Monster in My Pocket" (that company would go on to sue anyway, and then lose in court).

[@XSpamDragonX]

Socken The first example of this issue I could think of is the candy known as Smarties. In Canada and the UK, Smarties are pieces of candy coated chocolate, similar to M&Ms, manufactured by Nestle. In the US however, Smarties are very small cylindrical candies made of compressed sugar. This complication makes it nigh impossible for Nestle Smarties to move into the US, and meant that the compressed sugar candy had to be renamed Rockets for its sale in Canada.

[@cathsaigh2197]

A while back King tried to trademark "Saga" in games for their Candy Crush Saga. I wonder how that turned out?

[@Woodenfan]

I really like Stan as the teacher. He's up there with Phil for me. Not that John and Hank are bad, just that these two are better. Idk. :P

[@sushisushi5862]

Still miss Crash Course History though...

[@VK-pk8uz]

Woodenfan I disagree man, Crash Course History was absolutely amazing.

[@Woodenfan]

that's your opinion, and i respect that :)

[@zuvalder]

But I really like John and Hank! :( They're the reason (especially CC History) why I first started watching Crash Course videos :D And yes, Stan and Phil are awesome!

[@Woodenfan]

I never said they were bad, Zu ;) I just like Stan and Phil better, in my opinion. Less said about Craig, though...*punches eagle*

[@Pratchettgaiman]

google is a word that existed before the internet company: it's the number 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[@mikkicarr5717]

David Lev I'm pretty sure it was spelled differently... googol or something like that though.

[@atentat07]

David Lev also googleplex is an even bigger number :)

[@krombopulos_michael]

atentat07 that's also spelled differently, the world is googolplex

[@atentat07]

Cian true, just wanted to mention that factoid.

[@Patent-Lawyer]

Cian Spelling different doesn't really matter ... though I'm not sure Stan is right that's it arbitrary. It was chosen because it relates to the amount of information which can be searched using Google, e.g. a googol of stuff. One could even argue it's suggestive, but in any case, there's no real legal difference ... both types are registerable.

[@Winslow274]

This has been the best CCIP so far. Great work.

[@MentalVideographer]

Okay, so, I now understand why everyone seems to want to type 'first' into an empty comments section. I'm seeing one right now, and it's kinda tempting.

[@Thantosss1220]

MentalVideographer Good on you, dude. I salute thee for making this world a better place, one less "first!" comment at a time :)

[@maximumoftwenty8882]

Thantosss1220 But... He or she technically still said "first" in his or her comment.

[@xXMegaUltraNinjaXx]

MentalVideographer fourth

[@MentalVideographer]

Maximum Of Twenty Which just proves my point. Even when trying to talk about how I'm trying not to do that, I do it. (Mind Blown, right?)

[@johnploense2944]

MOAR STAN

[@dawidlijewski5105]

Whoa, polish toilet paper on 0:54 nice touch ;) So many flavours...

[@strutter777]

Dawid Lijewski Ha! I knew there will be at least one Polish comment thanks to that. Pro tip for all non-polish content creators: try speaking Polish or make a Poland related episode (history and alcohol are topics which can easily attract attention). Poles are quite sensitive to such and it is possible to notice some spikes in viewers number if video makes it to some influential sites.

[@joshbobst1629]

"Doooommmed!" "Dooooooooooooommmmmed!"

[@kristinalondon4804]

What if you have a blog where you don't profit at all with a very similar name to a company in the same industry with a registered trademark?

[@astridmiller2812]

Thanks for making this series!! I am learning about these topics for my job and this was a great introduction. :)

[@Termiux]

+1 Like for the para ra ra ra sounds of trademarks xD

[@MurfBomb]

I like that subtle jab at Sony

[@yajibei]

fun fact : the apple logo was used first by the beatles. When the mark "apple" came to be, they made an agreement that the computer manufacturer could use it IF they didn't product any music ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer

[@stephi6792]

but what about apple music? I guess its just a platform FOR music though, right?

[@ClydeLeeM]

That sound trademark bit was quite fantastic, though not in a fantastical manner.

[@WanderingVeteran]

Thank you for the awesome educative helpful videos.

[@loaytabaa5315]

Thank you

[@PhDBarinas]

Really looking forward to the next video on international I.P. But I was wondering if you guys could get more indepth on the subject of infringement. I'm currently making a couple of engineering educational videos and Im trying to be really careful on what to use in them. But since there's so much misconseption on the matter Im trying to get as much info as I can. For example, how does the fact that I reside in Dominican Republic affects the use of I.P. in other contries. And how come you (or anyone) can joke about Sony and not get sued?

[@morokaharrydihele2036]

you the best. Please lecture us on more other modules or courses. Dont forget to be awesome

[@SheaWaiteAMDG]

I'm seriously confused about who owns Break N' Bake. Is it Nestle? I tried looking it up but I couldn't find anything other than like, Kroger.

[@Kyrator88]

Please do a video talking about the way Hershey stopped the import of British chocolate.

[@MoViesDProductions]

The Budweiser logo at 9:25 is actually the logo of a different European beer _completely unrelated_ to the one marketed by AB-InBev in the U.S. If I recall correctly, there has been a lot of litigation surrounding the brand name in Europe, ultimately leading to a settlement. For that reason, the American beer--otherwise completely identical in bottle design--is simply known as "Bud" in European countries; they sell it alongside Budweiser Budvar.

[@Kiirah2008]

Is there anyway you could talk about disney's copyright issues??? I've heard they have been able to push dates on copy written stuff

[@shroomy6320]

Give this man a cookie.

[@TeamPupNSuds]

I have become a patron

[@Alwyn2112]

CrashCourse Even though Don't Forget to Be Awesome isn't trademarked, can I still credit The Green Brothers and Crash Course for it?

[@Freqsol]

Stan's voice is what Morgan Freeman would sound like if he was white :P

[@itfrostysg5266]

So True!

[@neeneko]

It is kinda odd how trademarks are probably the least defined type of IP with the most flexibility and room for judges to evaluate cases as they see fit... yet it is probably the least problematic, least abused, and cheapest to bring suit or defend against. Though after all that 'Edge' stuff a while back, the backlash I saw in the game community got kinda worrying.... or maybe I just got so sick of the 'I am going to trademark 'the' and sue everyone!' jokes that worry was simply preferable.

[@TheLadyDreamgirl]

neeneko Trademarks do actually get into some pretty troubling territory where they intersect with copyright. For example Mickey Mouse is a trademark, but he is also a character in copyrighted content. Since the trademark has an indefinite term, Disney can leverage that to restrict the use of the character even after the originating copyrighted content comes into the public domain.

[@frankschneider6156]

Lady Dreamgirl Well Mickey Mouse 1927 looked a lot different than 2015, so it's not gonna be that easy. And i don't know of any actual brand or product called Mickey Mouse, that's being sold. When the copyright is down in 2039 and the Copyright duration is not by accident prolonged in the meantime, Disney's chances are probably not that good of protecting it.

[@TheLadyDreamgirl]

Frank Schneider There doesn't have to be a brand or product called Mickey Mouse for Mickey Mouse to be trademarked. This article seems to have a pretty good breakdown of the copyright + trademark issues regarding Mickey (as well as other characters) copyright.nova.edu/mickey-public-domain/

[@frankschneider6156]

Lady Dreamgirl Thanks for the link. Good article. Guess we'll have to wait and find out.

[@XSpamDragonX]

neeneko The makers of Candy Crush trademarked the use of the word Candy in videogames in some parts of the world, and also attempted to sue the creators of the sidescrolling RPG, The Banner Saga, for using the word Saga.

[@zacharyauthier3090]

Can we get a crash course legal? I think Stan would be perfect ;)

[@trademarkexpress4803]

Hi Zachary, Call us! We do free consultations all the time. I see you posted here 2 years ago, but we can still review what you did then - if you already started your business. Plus, even if you started and trademarked a name, logo or slogan - there's upkeep to protect against infringers in sound, appearance or meaning. It is a mark's owner who has a duty, obligation to protect their own mark. Otherwise rights are lost if you allow another company to use the mark long enough. This is the role of COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL RESEARCH.

[@Yuuiiytrfbh]

Thanks!!

[@bemacoulibaly2147]

1:30 prevent consumer confusion.

[@DaylightDallas]

excellent

[@Codingale]

I'm quite curious about the song at 4:32 to 6:04 anyone know what it is?

[@TheSpacePod]

Great informative video Stan - thank you.

[@umgubularslashkilter9272]

Do you think you will make a Crash Course Philosophy sometime in the future? (if you are seeing this and you think "Oh! I know this awesome channel/book/movie that easily explains key concepts even to dummies, please tell me about it! I will be forever grateful if you do!)

[@SpitefulAZ]

Love the series!!! QUESTION: Can a persom get trade mark over skate board performances/tricks? I don't think so, but I once saw a skatboarding commentator say that a skater did a trademark move and no one else could do the same trick. Seem inaccurate to me.

[@Iponamann]

My god Stan's hands are HUGE!

[@TeoTull]

Some years ago, there was a case involving Yves Saint Laurent who wanted to sell a perfume under the name of Champagne. The champagne producers in the Champagne region in France opposed this in court and ended up winning. Given that the 7 criteria mentioned in the video do not apply here, what may be the reasons for such a decision? I should also point out that this lawsuit did not occur in the US as far as I know (I may be wrong. I read about it some 10 year ago). In your opinion, would this lawsuit have had a different outcome in the US?

[@Fooglmog]

So I did a ctrl+f search to see how many people were arguing that "google" was a word before Google (it wasn't) and had completely forgotten that KZbin makes note whenever someone shares their comment on Google+. In the first 111 comments, only 1 person had shared their post on Google+. If that's not an indictment of that platform, I don't know what is.

[@feitocomfruta]

RE the pizza example, the delineation of taste and recipe is where it gets tricky. For example, Popeye's and KFC both serve fried chicken, and they can be very similar in taste and texture, HOWEVER, the recipe for the chicken could plausibly be considered intellectual property. There's a reason they call it "the Colonel's SECRET blend" after all.

[@MASCrafts]

feitocomfruta Recipes can definitely be IP (they'd be under the trade secrets category), but I think the point here was that it's not protected by trademark.

[@crashcourse]

feitocomfruta Yeah, those recipes are protected as trade secrets. We didn't have time to get into them in this series, but it's a pretty interesting area of law. -stan

[@Ddub1083]

feitocomfruta Things which are not, by their nature, published to the public are rarely copyrighted. So a book is copyrighted because you must print it and publish it to the public. However, a recipe although it can (in rare cases) be "copyrighted" doesnt protect the recipe... it only protects the WRITING of the recipe. If you copyrighted a recipe, I can still use that recipe bc copyright only protects the physical impressions of ideas... not the ideas themselves. Moreover, the USPTO has specifically stated (and the federal circuit held several times) that recipes that are simply listings of ingredients and how to combine them are not protectable. They fall under the idea that facts cannot be copyrighted. So since copyright cannot protect recipes, the only thing you can really use is to patent the process of making it. The patent of course requires PUBLISHING publicly that process and you get 20 years to use it exclusively. 20 years isnt enough. Therefore any thing which does not have to be published (like a "secret recipe") is almost always protected under trade secret. Trade secret allows UNLIMITED protection time wise as long as efforts are in place to keep it a secret Many see the issue being the "independent creation" defense in trade secret as being weak but this defense is also in copyright. If someone comes up with KFCs recipe on their own... or through some sort of reverse engineering (note it has to be "legal" reverse engineering, there are types that are not allowed) then the protection may be lost at least with respect to that person who independently created. However, the same thing is true in copyright. Since there are no benefits to copyright and trade secret at least has the benefit of being unlimited time... the easy solution is to protect under trade secret.

[@feitocomfruta]

And that was part of an earlier episode... Thanks for the reminder!

[@mkruizv]

This time the music in the bubble is very distracting... otherwise. Keep up the good work. THank you.

[@Jason_Maier]

now something like the recipes for the 11 spices used for KFC and the formula for Coca-Cola would be a trademark or trade secret?

[@IntepatIP]

Awesome explanation.

[@bemacoulibaly2147]

3:32 almost anything from bottle

[@alannash2778]

It's Stan!!! Cool.

[@NobleHusky]

Funny you'd release this video days after solving this issue with trademarking. It's unesessary to trademark your logos or register your mascots to copyright when you're just an artist. (Unless yur super famous) It's a waste of time and potential money. As an art business though, you need to get your logo trademarked immediately so it's yours. Get your mascots copyright registered just to be safe aswell. If you have more than one mascot (a crew) then see if you can register them as a whole, or if money needs to be saved to register each character. Lots of money may be used for this so save up as an artist, and try to get partners to join in on the fun!

[@thomaslane1547]

4:09 -- Dang. Now, I'm hungry enough to pause the video and order some pizza.

[@thomaslane1547]

+Thomas Lane Observed domino's trademark and patent-pending pizza tracker.

[@hyperexplorer5355]

Great videos thank you!

[@bookerbrickman3459]

can you do a video on llc and other types of companys. your explinations are great and i love the channel

[@BreakBomb]

daaaang, Sony got gutted haaaard in this one!

[@eloujtimereaver4504]

Google is descriptive, because they claimed they had a google results. Which is a number.

[@fiddlerjones]

+Elouj Time Reaver You're thinking of the word "googol," which is a one, followed by one hundred zeroes. It's a homonym for Google.

[@eloujtimereaver4504]

Oh, you are right, ridiculous phonetics has struck again. Thanks for pointing that out, I still think google is descriptive though, if misspelled. I seem to recall them having a tag line about how many results they had at some point. I could be wrong though.

[@LicoInvestments]

Thanks for the video. If someone has a Class 35 Trademark application, could they place the TM on the tag of a clothing item as a specimen?

[@harshilpatel4096]

Under 301 baby ya go crashers

[@lightingbolt85]

Please make an episode about, or at least involving, copyleft.

[@unpronouncable2442]

WOHA stop right there! How did a polish camomile toilet paper got on the show?

[@VK-pk8uz]

So this means that the Apple name is not a registered trade mark, and thus free to use, correct? Then how would the Apple-toilet-seat producer get into trouble over potential confusion of the 'ordinary customer'?

[@borrellfankam963]

Fucking love their graphics man

[@sparksbet]

I wish you'd addressed the use of trademarks in fictional works. I know there's a lot of confusion among budding writers about whether they're allowed to have their characters drink Coke or name their cat Snape.

[@waynesanders1406]

Wow, 9.6M followers. I am surprised at the channels on KZbin that get so many followers. This channel has more followers than Athlean-X which had the highest following of anything in my subscribers feed.

[@hoperiki4390]

Nice work really. Is just the English transcript of the IP series is so messed up. I wish it was as accurate as most of the other Crash Course series.

[@macjsus]

A freelance artist makes a logo, should they just get it copyright protected or trademarked as well? They dont sell products but provide a skilled service.

[@3xFranco]

I thought the John Deere green couldn't be trademarked since green is prevalent in farming. Well, that's what was taught in my law class.

[@3xFranco]

+Frank Coleman John Deere's green isn't trademarked. www.colormatters.com/color-and-marketing/color-branding-legal-rights

[@mesplin3]

...wearing a captain America shirt, a diet coke, Yoda....

[@viancyale8292]

MY TRADE MARK - INGENUITY-MAGS-PROCESS. (IMP)

[@untapped8776]

What does the law say about similarly styled trademarks, like the SEARS logo and the SEGA logo?

[@travertischio]

That is actually the logo of the Czech brewery from the actual town of Budweis that has had many lawsuits over the years with our American InBev Anheuser-Busch Budweiser, but I assume you knew that.

[@crispryergo7695]

is this what CRM did for us so i don't have to care and they still get their percentage share for business and its not royalty tax?

[@crakeET5]

In the pizza example, could the creator of the pizza flavour record the flavour in a distinct recipe and the filled for a copyright? or even a patent? I see how it's not eligible for a trademark but could the creator protect his flavour as something other than a trade secret?

[@bemacoulibaly2147]

2:00 no copying it.

[@bemacoulibaly2147]

5:00 we more closer to Suggestive & arbitrary

[@johnbobbypringle]

Hello, I am wondering if I would be allowed to use my surname as my trademark? As you can see, my surname is a famous brand but I believe I should still be allowed to use it considering it is my name