by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - July 28, 2008 - h. Trademark Cease and Desist, Notice & Threat Letters
A cease and desist letter alleging trademark infringement can ruin your day: Who would think that a child's birthday party could incite a threat of trademark infringement by a large company? Because costum shops regularly send trademark protected characters to parties, it is easy to understand why a registered trademark holder might get upset if permission or license is not obtained first. Costum shops which use trademark protected characters need to be careful or take a significant risk of receiving a cease and desist trademark letter. Make sure you get a license first.
Trademark infringement rains on children's birthday parties — baltimoresun.com
"In planning birthday parties for their children, parents are facing stumbling blocks that include trademark infringement.
For children's parties, many companies around the country provide costumed characters popular with kids — characters like Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder and Hannah Montana. In recent years, corporations that own the rights to some of the more popular characters, companies that include Marvel Entertainment Inc., Scholastic Inc., and HIT Entertainment, have sent cease-and-desist letters, threatened lawsuits and in some cases received settlements from companies that market unauthorized character impersonators.
The threats rattle the costume industry. Some companies hire lawyers to advise them on how to stay out of trouble and remain in business. Others are now commissioning costumes that only slightly resemble characters owned by media companies. They have names like "Big Red Tickle Monster," instead of Elmo, and "Explorer Girl with Backpack," rather than Dora.
Leslie Ann Hooker, a Fort Lauderdale costume-company owner, thought she had found a way to run her business without running into trouble. "I try to make my costumes look 40 percent different," she said early this month, adding that she didn't explicitly offer trademarked characters: "I don't have SpongeBob. I have SquishyGuy."
The amount of money which is being made by the costume and event industry is staggering. Gag gift companies and others catering to these types of events apparently feel persecuted as a result of the fact that they are precluded from offering merchandise, including costumes, that look just like SpongeBob. The costume industry appears to make a diligent effort to create dissimilarities between their costumes and the characters’ which the children expect to show up at the door. Unless they license the costumes or other merchandise from the actual trademark holder, they have no right to profit off of those marks. The trademark counterfeit industry is huge and, with the advent of the internet, growing at an exponential rate. However, counterfeit merchandise includes more than just copycat watches in New York. You only need to go as far as your local costume and party goods supply shop to see trademark infringement in your own back yard.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
