(Author's Note: Thanks to my friend - and intellectual property attorney/patent litigator extraordinaire - Dave Donoghue for bringing this case to my attention.)
Do these goats on a roof look happy? Are they demeaned because they have been relegated to grazing on a grass-covered roof? Are you offended by these roof goats?
That's what Plaintiff Todd Bank alleged in his attempt to have Defendant Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant's "goats-on-a-roof" trade dress registration canceled, a dispute that found its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals last year. Here's the trade-dress mark at issue:
We start with the basics. U.S. trademark law allows registration of a trade dress as a symbol or device. That's what Al Johnson did to attract customers to his eatery. Mr. Bank took offense and sought to cancel the mark. The Court cited well-established law that the party seeking to cancel a mark must first prove that it has standing.
To establish standing, Bank needed to show that he had a direct and personal stake in the registration and a reasonable basis for his belief that the mark damaged him. The Court determined that Bank had no real interest in the mark, i.e., no direct and personal stake in opposing the mark. The allegation that the mark was demeaning to goats and offensive to him was insufficient to establish standing after the recent U.S. Supreme Court's Tam decision. In Tam, the Supremes found that the Lanham Trademark Act's bar on the registration of "immoral" or "scandalous" trademarks violated the First Amendment.
So, come spring, the goats will peacefully graze on the roof of Al's Swedish Restaurant in scenic Sister Bay, WI. Here's the goat cam (no goats in cold weather).
Before we leave the goats in Wisconsin, we should note their cousins in Pigeon Ford, TN. Nestled in the Smoky Mountains, the Goats on the Roof Restaurant has a license agreement with Al Johnson for putting goats on a roof too. That's the beauty of having a registered trademark. You can license others to use your mark, and they'll pay you for the privilege. (Contact me if you want ideas on how to monetize your intellectual property.)
Novel ways to use animals for promotional purposes were in the news just recently. People are gluing MAGA (and other hats) on pigeons, and there's evidence that this practice can hurt the birds. Aren't there more humane ways to get your message across than messing with animals? My wish is that if you do this, you'll wake up tomorrow with your head sewn to the carpet.
To establish standing, Bank needed to show that he had a direct and personal stake in the registration and a reasonable basis for his belief that the mark damaged him. The Court determined that Bank had no real interest in the mark, i.e., no direct and personal stake in opposing the mark. The allegation that the mark was demeaning to goats and offensive to him was insufficient to establish standing after the recent U.S. Supreme Court's Tam decision. In Tam, the Supremes found that the Lanham Trademark Act's bar on the registration of "immoral" or "scandalous" trademarks violated the First Amendment.
So, come spring, the goats will peacefully graze on the roof of Al's Swedish Restaurant in scenic Sister Bay, WI. Here's the goat cam (no goats in cold weather).
Before we leave the goats in Wisconsin, we should note their cousins in Pigeon Ford, TN. Nestled in the Smoky Mountains, the Goats on the Roof Restaurant has a license agreement with Al Johnson for putting goats on a roof too. That's the beauty of having a registered trademark. You can license others to use your mark, and they'll pay you for the privilege. (Contact me if you want ideas on how to monetize your intellectual property.)
Novel ways to use animals for promotional purposes were in the news just recently. People are gluing MAGA (and other hats) on pigeons, and there's evidence that this practice can hurt the birds. Aren't there more humane ways to get your message across than messing with animals? My wish is that if you do this, you'll wake up tomorrow with your head sewn to the carpet.
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