Wal-Mart's Trademarked Smiley Face Turned Upside Down; Parody Is...

Courtesy Techdirt  Mon, 03/24/2008 - 08:55

Paul Alan Levy writes "In a new decision , a federal judge in Atlanta has rejected a claim by Wal-Mart that parody t-shirts and bumper stickers sold over CafePress.com, using the phrases "walocaust," and "wal-qaeda," violate its trademark.

The court ruled that the fact that the parodies are sold on t-shirts does not detract from the non-commercial nature of the expression, which takes them outside the scope of trademark dilution law, and requires a treatment of...

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