[ncdnhc-discuss] Beanie Babies domain name ruling illustrates limits of trademarks

[Chris Chiu]

A United States Federal appeals court has thrown out a trademark lawsuit by
Ty, the makers of Beanie Babies stuffed animals, against a reseller of its
products who had registered www.bargainbeanies.com. The court justified its
decision in part on the idea that "you can't sell a branded product without
using its brand name, that is, its trademark." The tribunal also warned that
a "trademark that describes a basic element of the product, as 'Beanies'
does, is not protected unless the owner can establish that the consuming
public accepts the word as the designation of a brand of the product," and
that the term "may 'catch on' to the point where the mark becomes generic,
and then Ty will have to cast about for a different trademark."

See
http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org/#highlights

Sincerely,
Christopher Chiu
Technology Policy Analyst
American Civil Liberties Union