-4 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: The history of the /r/xkcd kerfuffle.
He doesn't need to. And I'm not his or your or Clarkson's lawyer. He can make a grab and take the sub, and if JC both gives a shit *and* has the legal means and opportunities at his disposal (as a public figure he may *or may not* have a claim to the name) he can react. Trademark requires existence, acknowledgement, assertion, and response; it is not preemptive.
Comment by billygoat_fucksticks at 09/02/2014 at 21:10 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I hope that you aren't anybody's lawyer because you are spouting complete rubbish. There are certain circumstances where Clarkson could have a right to the DOMAIN jeremyclarkson.com, but there is NO situation where he could make a legitimate argument that he has the right to request that a website owner "shut down the sub or relinquish control to him" just because the site uses his name in a post-domain path (e.g. reddit.com/r/jeremyclarkson).
"Existence, acknowledgment, assertion and response" are irrelevant-- what matters is whether the website owner is using the trademark of another in a manner that is likely to cause confusion as to the source of the website. And use of a trademark in a post-domain path doesn't create confusion. But don't just take my word for it, allow the Sixth Circuit[1] to explain: "Because post-domain paths do not typically signify source, it is unlikely that the presence of another's trademark in a post-domain path of a URL would ever violate trademark law."
1: https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F3/326/326.F3d.687.01-3590.html
Maybe next time have a clue what the fuck you are talking about.