Words Want to Be Free

According to trademark law, you can’t get trademark protection for a generic term—a word or phrase in common use. These folks have tried to apply this principle in some interesting ways.

Philip’s Organization
Case D2000-1638: Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV vs. Ramazan Goktas

..And Good Riddance, Tea
Case D2000-1823: Tata Tea Ltd vs. Gem Lifts Ltd

Moe Iceberg, Moe Ginsburg
Case D2001-0021: Moe Ginsburg, Inc. vs. Medisys

Have a Coal Distillate and a Smile
Case D2001-0327: The Coca-Cola Company vs. Tantamount Property Trust

We’re In The Attention Business!
Case D2001-0541: AT & T Corp. vs. Caimmi Rappresentanze & Marketing Italia

Give Me a Long Enough Indian-Ethnicity Lever...
Case D2001-0765: Hindustan Lever Ltd vs. Mr. Vikram Chachra

All the Girls in the World
Case D2002-0222: International Bank For Reconstruction and Development d/b/a The World Bank vs. Yoo Jin Sohn

Pepsi of the Ancients
Case D2002-0562: PepsiCo, Inc. vs. "null", aka Alexander Zhavoronkov