Beast Mode infringement?

by dilletaunt on Dec 17, 2011 1:59 PM PST

For those wondering, Marshawn Lynch has a trademark on "Beast Mode" which includes any t-shirts made with the BM trademark. I note that Musclepharm, the sports nutritional supplement company that signed an endorsement deal with Michael Vick, recently released these t-shirts.

Unless Lynch has licensed the BM trademark to Musclepharm, he may have to send a cease and desist letter and/or sue. It was a smart move by Lynch and his management company to TM "Beast Mode". Its starting to pickup steam and hopefully we'll see more Beast Mode runs in the future.

Now only if he could get Skittles to pay him.

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Not to mention...

Link

by the other side on Dec 17, 2011 5:07 PM PST reply actions

Eh, 600$ on a sweater.

No big deal.

by B0w1-of-R1ce on Dec 18, 2011 5:27 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

Disagree.

Phrase has been around long before Lynch.

by MT Olson on Dec 18, 2011 9:25 AM PST reply actions

Doesn't matter

Trade marks do not require novelty or originality to be registered (like a patent) A trade mark can be denied (or cancelled) if it would create a likelihood of confusion with a current or past used trade mark from the perspective of the consumer. So the question isn’t whether “Beast Mode” was a phrase around before Lynch trade marked it, but whether the customers already associate the origin of the goods with (in this case, a t-shirt brand).

Stats are not a euphemism for tits.

by Trenchtown on Dec 18, 2011 9:53 PM PST up reply actions

This is a little embarrassing.

I kind of thought this was known but unspoken, but I’m pretty sure Marshawn got his catchphrase from the cartoon ‘Transformers: Beast Wars’. They would yell “beast mode” when they transformed into animals.

by neel on Dec 18, 2011 10:25 AM PST reply actions

The Playstation One game "Bloody Roar" also had a "beast mode" you could activate.

Your character would turn into an animal form and gain increased abilities.

by JeffJ254 on Dec 18, 2011 5:52 PM PST up reply actions

That's what my screen name is based on

Does that mean I have to pay a fee?

"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence." ~ Dinobot

by beastwarking on Dec 22, 2011 10:17 PM PST up reply actions

If they really wanted to go after you for copyright infringement they could

You would claim fair use, and you would probably win because you aren’t depriving Tranformers of a market by using that as a screen name. Without getting too spidery, one of the problems with copyright law is that it is so broad which makes copyright infringement ubiquitous. Even before the internet, you can go around and find an example of copyright infringement in almost any public place. Playing the radio in a business establishment is copyright infringement, the dude on the sidewalk playing cover songs for tips is copyright infringement, saving a picture off Google images is copyright infringement, adding a funny caption and printing that image out is infringement. We are so use to infringing copyrights as a society that most people don’t even know what is protected and what is not.

I'm too important to the team. Big Stein can't be flopping and twitching.

by Trenchtown on Dec 23, 2011 1:34 PM PST up reply actions