Partner Joshua Dalton spoke with The Concord Bridge about how trademarks can be used to protect brands and reputations but cannot be used to bring suit against publications for use of common words and phrases.
The article describes a controversy in which Joe Laurin, a candidate for the Select Board in Concord, Massachusetts, accidentally sent to a Concord resident an email meant for Miami Heat president Pat Riley, encouraging him to enforce his “three-peat” trademark against The Concord Bridge for its use of the term in local sports coverage.
Josh said that any effort to bring a “three-peat” trademark case was “pretty weak sauce” and such a claim “would be laughed out of court” because the First Amendment provides “an additional sort of veneer” around media use, and the publication used the phrase for its commonly understood meaning.