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01-11-2013, 09:22 AM
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#1
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Gator Country Silver
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,214
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"Bass Pro Shops challenges logo of Valrico store"
Another example of profit-seeking distorting intellectual property laws.
tbo.com
Quote:
The owner of a Valrico outdoors apparel store fears he could go out of business due to a legal dispute with mega-chain Bass Pro Shops over the bass in his store's logo.
Kelly Morris, owner of Simple Life Outfitters, said he has used his logo for two years, printing it on T-shirts and hats and accounting for a large chunk of his business.
But Bass Pro Shops, which has plans to build a 140,000-square-foot store in Brandon, contends Morris' logo is too similar to its logo and has filed legal documents asking him to stop using it immediately.
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Bass Pro Shops doesn't even need to win the case, they just need to make him spend enough money to hurt his business and remove him as a competitor.
__________________
"Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts."
-Bernard Baruch
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01-11-2013, 09:30 AM
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#2
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,237
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I don't think any reasonable person could look at that logo and confuse it with Bass Pro Shops.
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01-11-2013, 09:38 AM
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#3
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Sub-optimal Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 16,578
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kygator
I don't think any reasonable person could look at that logo and confuse it with Bass Pro Shops.
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Yeah, but that's not really why they are pursuing this. Unless its dismissed outright, then its more about clearing out the competition through attrition.
__________________
"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openess, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meaness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success." 
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01-11-2013, 09:38 AM
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#4
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 3,357
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The vote to improve roads to incentivize Bass Pro Shops to come to Brandon is still waiting to be held on Feb 6th, like they actually need incentives.
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01-11-2013, 09:41 AM
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#5
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Gator Country Diamond
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 25,278
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corpgator
The vote to improve roads to incentivize Bass Pro Shops to come to Brandon is still waiting to be held on Feb 6th, like they actually need incentives.
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It's seeking some unidentified incentives, maybe just tax breaks, to open one in St. Johns County, just south of Jax.
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01-11-2013, 10:11 AM
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#6
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Heisman Finalist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,719
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I'm all for logo protection and copyright infringement laws.
But this is ABSURD!!!!
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01-11-2013, 10:40 AM
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#7
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Gator Country Silver
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 8,609
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I couldn't tell the difference just by looking at it--looked identical to me.
Yours Truly....Stevie Wonder
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01-11-2013, 02:06 PM
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#8
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Guest
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the very last thing a corporation wants is true capitalism because that leads to marketplace competition. it is more profitable to stifle, litigate and bankrupt rather than compete.
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01-11-2013, 02:22 PM
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#9
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Gator Country Silver
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,493
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Does this mean we are about to get into a legal foggy with Lacoste?
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01-11-2013, 02:24 PM
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#10
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Sub-optimal Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 16,578
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gs_gator
the very last thing a corporation wants is true capitalism because that leads to marketplace competition. it is more profitable to stifle, litigate and bankrupt rather than compete.
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Wouldnt "true capitalism" result in monopolies or at least giants like Bass Pro Shops? Of course, I have no idea what you specifically mean by true capitalism. I'm assuming laissez-faire, and not one where the state intervenes via anti-trust laws and other things designed to encourage competition.
__________________
"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openess, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meaness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success."
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01-18-2013, 03:38 PM
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#11
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All SEC
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 909
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This is ludicrous!!! In his logo, there is a bass, a redfish, and a snook, with the snook being in the foreground and having a similar pose as the bass on the Bass Pro Shop logo. They, in no way, can be mistaken for each other, especially for anybody who knows fish.
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01-18-2013, 03:47 PM
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#12
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,850
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Won't the issue here be whether a picture of a Bass (presumably fighting) is even copyrightable? Isn't there a threshold of "uniqueness" that has to be met? That image is so common.
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01-18-2013, 03:55 PM
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#13
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Sub-optimal Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 16,578
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CHFG8R
Won't the issue here be whether a picture of a Bass (presumably fighting) is even copyrightable? Isn't there a threshold of "uniqueness" that has to be met? That image is so common.
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This is all beside the point, really. I'm sure Bass Pro Shops would be happy to debate this in court, while the other guy is racking up legal fees on an hourly basis.
__________________
"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openess, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meaness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success."
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01-18-2013, 04:00 PM
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#14
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,850
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wgbgator
This is all beside the point, really. I'm sure Bass Pro Shops would be happy to debate this in court, while the other guy is racking up legal fees on an hourly basis.
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Or a lawyer might take the case on contingency knowing/thinking he could recoup those fees plus interest.
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01-18-2013, 04:01 PM
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#15
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Premium Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 153
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01-18-2013, 04:05 PM
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#16
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Sub-optimal Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 16,578
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CHFG8R
Or a lawyer might take the case on contingency knowing/thinking he could recoup those fees plus interest.
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Perhaps. It still potentially puts the little guy in a bind - fighting an ongoing legal battle that could take months or years against someone with vastly superior resources. That's time and energy he could put into his business. Its basically a war of attrition.
__________________
"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openess, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meaness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success."
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01-18-2013, 04:16 PM
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#17
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 2,518
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wcj786
This is ludicrous!!! In his logo, there is a bass, a redfish, and a snook, with the snook being in the foreground and having a similar pose as the bass on the Bass Pro Shop logo. They, in no way, can be mistaken for each other, especially for anybody who knows fish.
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That's exactly what I was thinking.
Okay, not really. I don't know squat about fish except that I like mine with fries and hush puppies. 
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01-18-2013, 06:28 PM
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#18
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Gator Country Gold
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Wilmington, NC
Posts: 15,777
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I design corporate I.D.'s and logos.
First. Yes you can easily trademark a fish...but..it must be unique. A photo of a fish os automatically copyrighted by the photographer unless he sells/transfrrs the rights.
Second. The logos are in no way consideeed "alike" in my business.
Third. The sweet life logo is really more of an illustration being used AS a logo, rather than a true logo form.
All this to say...the case was stupid. Glad its been dropped.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country
__________________
UNCovered SCUMmy ViOLatiOnS rUnning amUcK For SUre
www.paultilly.net | Logo design for the masses.
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01-18-2013, 08:37 PM
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#19
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Heisman Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,237
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newkastle
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Glad it ended this way.
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01-19-2013, 07:07 AM
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#20
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Gator Country Silver
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,974
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Another example of lawyers doing something to make a buck, before the owner even knows it is being done in his name.
The ownere going directly to the shop, apologizing and repaying any lost funds for the little guy, is something Bass Pro can be proud of.
Now they need to fire a few people in the legal department...
__________________
"In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
Teddy Roosevelt
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