Cease and Desist Letter

JimIvey

I don't know.

But I have an interesting anecdote about that (the regulars here have heard it already).  

My wife used to run a preschool/daycare with enrollment of about 50-60 kids.  Every now and then, a parent would drop off a video with their child, saying something like, "This is their favorite video.  If they have problems or a hard time, play this for them and they'll calm down."  So, an occasional Disney video would be the favorite and would be playing for one kid, with others millling around, and maybe one or two other kids would watch along.

Well, guess who got a cease and desist letter.  Yep, my wife.  Apparently, she had been clearly hosting public performances of valuable movies for commercial gain.

Solution:  memo to parents.  Please don't bring any Disney movies as such may leave Disney no choice but engage us in litigation which would likely result in our inability to continue to provide you with childcare services.

There's Eisner for you.  Of course, in France, Eisner would be D'Eisner and would be pronounced "DeezNAY" which sounds like "Disney" -- as he was fond of pointing out.  He admitted that there was no familial relation but had an eerie look in his eye as if to point out some spiritual destiny between himself and the mega-rodent corp.

Hmmm.... I wonder what my destiny might be....  James D. Ivey is just 1.5 letters away from James Disney.  Coincidence?  I think not!

T

How the heck did that happen.  Is Eisner actually big brother? I figured they sent more than one or two a year, I just was curious what the actual number was; or what the average is for other companies with big numbers of trademarks.

JimIvey

My wife suspects one of the parents had some sort of relationship with Disney and reported it.  This was in the Silicon Valley where, at that time, you couldn't throw a rock without hitting an IP attorney.

It wouldn't surprise me if, rather than one or two a day, Disney cranked out 1 or 2 an hour at some time.  I bet they have it all set up for a print merge and one of those little machines that automatically tri-folds your bulk mail.  Or, maybe not.

Regards.

ladylaw...

I have a very good friend who has worked as an auditor for both Disney and Mattel.

Just think, she helped protect both Mickey Mouse and Barbie from all the evil doers in the world.  I know I feel safer.

I asked her about internal tolerance for use of the trademarks and this was her off-the-record answer.

For Mattel, it's around $50,000.  If you're making Barbie clothes and selling them at toy shows, probably not a big deal.   Reverse engineer Barbie in China and start selling her as 'Barb' you're probably gonna hear from the big 'M'.

For Disney, it's ZERO - ZILCH - ZIPPEROO.  They spend much more in C&D letters and actions every year than they ever recover and/or stop.

I recently received a C&D from a company that consists of a single trademark [which I'm NOT using] and a bunch of bankruptcy assets bought 30 years ago.  The owner briefly used the disputed marks about 5 - 10 years ago.  

LadyLawyer