Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food


Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

Friday, November 2, 2012

Best of Ridiculous 'Best of'-Related Lawsuits!

Posted by on Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 10:30 AM

From Bloomberg's BusinessWeek:

Can a company claim ownership of a phrase as commonplace as “best of?” Village Voice Media....would answer in the affirmative. The media company is claiming to have exclusive rights to the phrase in 10 such instances as “Best of Phoenix” and “Best of Twin Cities,” and is now is suing Yelp for using these registered marks.

Even more ridiculous, sometimes the "we own 'Best-of" gambit works!:

This is not the first time VVM has taken legal action for these trademarks. In 2011 the company sued Time Out New York for its annual “Best of NYC.” It settled the suit in April 2012, and Suskin claims Time Out New York will no longer publish the issue under that name.


There goes our "Best of Human Trafficking" issue...

 

Comments (5) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Urgutha Forka 1
Life imitates The Onion
Posted by Urgutha Forka on November 2, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Hawke 2
Didn't SOaP try and claim ownership of "Pride" and bully everyone who tried to use it without paying alms to them?
Posted by Hawke http://facebook.com/thehawke on November 2, 2012 at 11:25 AM
The Max 3
Here in Columbia, SC, our local character peanuts shop guarantees their peanuts to be the worst in town, have done since The War.

http://cromers.com/about-us/cromers-hist…
Posted by The Max on November 2, 2012 at 11:32 AM
4
Susan G. Komen has sued other charities that use the phrase "...for the cure"
Posted by TJ on November 2, 2012 at 11:52 AM
David Schmader 5
Sue for the cure!
Posted by David Schmader on November 2, 2012 at 12:15 PM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

Want great deals and a chance to win tickets to the best shows in Seattle? Join The Stranger Presents email list!


All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy