Brooklyn artist trademarks "Pi" symbol, then issues cease-and-desist letters to Zazzle

Plot Device

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So this artist founded a company called "Pi Productions Corp," and his trademark is the "pi" symbol followed by a period. His attorney says other t-shirts and merchandise are "confusingly similar" to his client's merchandise.


http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/02/pi-trademark-usa

Man trademarks Pi, tries to cut out geeky T-shirt designers

02 June 14 / by Kevin Poulsen

A Brooklyn artist is claiming a broad trademark in T-shirts, jackets, caps, and other apparel featuring the Greek letter, resulting in the mass, temporary removal of thousands of products from the custom t-shirt printing site Zazzle.

At issue is US trademark registration 4,473,631, issued to one Paul Ingrisano, aka "Pi Productions Corp" of New York. In January, the US Patent and Trademark Office gave Ingrisano a trademark on the symbol "π." -- pi followed by a period -- a design Ingrisano uses on T-shirts sold at some brick-and-mortar stores.

When Ingrisano discovered that California-based print-on-demand outlet Zazzle offered an array of clothing items that feature pi -- which represents the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference -- he had attorney Ronald Millet send the company a strongly worded cease-and-desist letter this month demanding their removal....
 
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Williebee

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In other news, I have trademarked the number 1.

You foam finger manufacturers, you high school bleacher chanters, you little children who are asking permission to pee.. you better beware.
 

Plot Device

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In other news, I have trademarked the number 1.

You foam finger manufacturers, you high school bleacher chanters, you little children who are asking permission to pee.. you better beware.

You've cornered the market in binary language, dude. So you now own the frigging internet. And as for Mr. Gates' vast fortune ... well ...
 
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Wilde_at_heart

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Kylabelle

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Um, it's performance art?

Not very good performance art....
 

blacbird

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You could possibly trademark-protect a specific artistic rendition of the Pi symbol, in connection with a specific kind of product, but this dude won't get far trying to claim trademark on the symbol itself. That's like trying to claim a trademark on the letter "E".

I'm pretty sure, for example, that the John Hancock Insurance Company has a trademark on their rendition of Hancock's famous signature as it is associated with their business products, but it isn't like nobody can put the name "John Hancock" on a t-shirt. Or even, for that matter, a visual reproduction of his sig on the Declaration of Independence, which is most certainly in public domain.

caw
 

William Haskins

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In other news, I have trademarked the number 1.

You foam finger manufacturers, you high school bleacher chanters, you little children who are asking permission to pee.. you better beware.

a couple of hells angels came through wanting a word with you.
 

dfwtinman

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Trademark registration 4,473,632:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz or any combination thereof, in whole or in part.