Gorbachev to Trademark His Forehead

Newsmax ^ | Feb. 2, 2004

[scarface367]

The former Soviet leader who went head to head with Ronald Reagan is taking the concept of intellectual property to a new place.

After a Russian vodka company started putting Mikhail Gorbachev's forehead birthmark on its bottle labels, the ex-premier moved to copyright the famous port wine stain himself.

Ironically, a strict anti-drinking initiative was one of Gorbachev’s pet projects back in his heyday of promoting Perestroika.

Political cartoonists who made the birthmark synonymous with the Communist president will be grateful he didn't think of trademarking it earlier.

But imagine the reaction of conspiracists who dubbed the stain as 'the mark of the beast' if he had.

"Given how seriously he seems to be taking these matters, companies may soon find themselves in court," observes Minneapolis trademark lawyer Michael Bondi in Inc. Magazine.

[Atlas Sneezed]

More legal ignorance from the media and elsewhere. In the US (as in most nations) you can't protect a trademark you aren't using in commerce, and even then, your protection is only for the same and related types of goods and services.

Gorby's legitimate complaint (if in the US) would be under the right of publicity, because the mark falsely implies that he endorses the product. Bette Midler won a case against Ford Motor Company when they used a sound-alike singer in their ads.

Isn't it incredible how when you know something about the subject, you find that most news reports are abysmally wrong? It's a good thing that those errors only occur in my field of expertise, so that I can rely on them for the other areas where I am ignorant! ;-)