It’s Friday, everyone! Time to get funky and have a chuckle.
I came across the following case whilst trolling the web for something to make us smile. Courtesy of http://www.caseclothesed.com
“Naked Cowboy Lost in Suit Against CBS
By Kristin Grant [March 20th, 2012]
Last year Caseclothesed reported that the Times Square performer, the Naked Cowboy (Robert John Burck) brought suit against CBS and Bell Phillips. Burck claimed that the character from the soap ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ who also played guitar in his briefs and a cowboy hat infringed his trademark and tarnished his reputation.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones granted defendants motion to dismiss on the basis that while the Naked Cowboy has become a famous character, “even an unsophisticated viewer” would not be confused between the Naked Cowboy and the character on the “Bold and the Beautiful.”
Burck sought 1.5 million dollars claiming that a Youtube video clip from the soap with the actor playing guitar in his briefs in a cowboy hat was infringing because it was tagged ‘The Bold and the Beautiful-Naked Cowboy.’ The court held that this was merely used by the network as a phrase to describe the clip and therefore fell within the descriptive fair use exception.
The Court found that Burck’s costume was distinctive as a result of the appearance of the phrase ‘Naked Cowboy’ on the briefs, guitar and hat as well as a ‘$’ on the boots. However, the court found that there was no likelihood of confusion because the actor’s costume contained none of the distinctive features of Burck’s costume and that the similarities between the two were minimal.”
There are so many, many things to say to this, but this being a ‘good’ site, I shall refrain! 🙂
Trademark24 