Trademark doesn't mean nobody can show up your menu
New York City passed a law requiring certain restaurants, like fast food chains, to include nutrition information on their menus. Subway complied. Other fast food chains sued, and Dunkin Donuts claimed it was impossible to fit the information by creating a really hard to read menu containing it. The NYC Department of Health called their bluff by creating a much better mockup.
Wendy's thinks it must be illegal for anyone to show them how their menu could be better, and has claimed that a mockup made of their menu is "misleading" and an "improper use of Wendy's trademark".
It's a legal strategy for the modern era: If your arguments aren't working so well in court, claim that the people making the arguments are infringing your
3 Comments:
Still, it's stupid that restaurants should have to change their menu. Especially only some restaurants, presumably, you know, where the poor people go who are too stupid to take care of themselves...
One, that should be trademark, not copyright, and two, trademarks are there to prevent confusion in the marketplace among participants. Restyling the layout for a menu pretty obviously doesn't create confusion in the marketplace, since the menu still describes the food that Wendy's is selling.
Hey David, don't know where to contact you... looks like a big industry lobby is taking baby steps towards IPac's position.
http://www.defendfairuse.org/
Take a look!
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