Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won
not tay ber own
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Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won |
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| This information is taken directly from the court opinion. It is not taken out of context nor is it altered. |
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From WCVB-TV v. Boston Athletic Association, 926 F.2d 42 (1st Cir, 1991): |
| In our view, the cases BAA cites, and Sullivan in particular, do not govern the outcome of this case. Nor can we find a likelihood of any relevant confusion here. First, the Sullivan opinion, taken as a whole, makes clear that the court, in using the language appellants cite, referring to a "free ride," and taking "advantage" of another's good will, did not intend to depart from ordinary principles of federal trademark law that make a finding of a "likelihood of confusion" essential to a conclusion of "violation." As a general matter, the law sometimes protects investors from the "free riding" of others; and sometimes it does not. The law, for example, gives inventors a "property right" in certain inventions for a limited period of time; see 35 U.S.C. Secs. 101 et seq.; it provides copyright protection for authors; see 17 U.S.C. Secs. 101 et seq.; it offers certain protections to trade secrets. See generally 2 J. McCarthy Sec. 29.16. But, the man who clears a swamp, the developer of a neighborhood, the academic scientist, the school teacher, and millions of others, each day create "value" (over and above what they are paid) that the law permits others to receive without charge. Just how, when and where the law should protect investments in "intangible" benefits or goods is a matter that legislators typically debate, embodying the results in specific statutes, or that common law courts, carefully weighing relevant competing interests, gradually work out over time. The trademark statute does not give the appellants any "property right" in their mark except "the right to prevent confusion." See Quabaug Rubber Co., 567 F.2d at 160; 2 J. McCarthy Sec. 23.1. And, nothing in Sullivan suggests the contrary. |
