The Moron In A Hurry Test
I guess this is old news now, but I can’t resist. Sam Adams beer was trying to stop a guy named Sam Adams who’s running for Portland’s mayoral office from using a couple of domain names. With all of the trademark protection suits flying, I’d like to see the Moron In A Hurry Test applied more frequently. By the way, Sam Adams beer backed down once they found that candidate Sam Adams was a real person.
Back in 2003, when the Beatles’ Apple Corp. sued Apple computer over trademark violations, we noted that the whole purpose of trademark was to avoid confusion — and we doubted that anyone out there was confusing the Beatles’ corporate name with that of Apple Computers. It would appear that Apple Computers’ lawyers are using the same defense now that the case has actually gone to trial. However, they phrased it in a much more elegant way, stating that “even a moron in a hurry could not be mistaken” about the difference between the two companies.