This is just madness on Sony’s part - I can’t imagine how anyone thought this could be a valid trademark unless they were simply unaware of the usage, which clearly isn’t the case as they’re trying to trademark “Let’s Play” for Let’s Plays. It’s like an automobile maker coming out with a Car™. What would happen if they were successful - they’d immediately go into a frenzy of activity trying to smash all the pre-existing, competing uses? Try desperately to claw it back from generic use? That seems like a sisyphean task.
Let’s Boycott!
I assume the basis for their claim is the movie Desperado, released through Sony’s Columbia Pictures division?
Chick-FilA filed suit for trademark infringement on the phrase “Eat More Kale”
Big corporations have no heart, no soul, and no conscience. They do these things not because they make any business sense, but because they have the power to do them.
I strongly urge you to edit your post to use a lower-case “b”, as the two-word call-to-action phrase “Let’s Boycott!” with a capital “L”, a capital “B” and a concluding exclamation mark ("!") is a trademarked property of UmbrellaHat Labs (a sole-proprietorship, of which I am the sole).
Failure to make such an edit will more than likely result in one or more of a variety of actions including, but not limited to, legal remedies.
Should you wish to continue using the phrase “Let’s Boycott!”, please contact us via Direct Message to discuss mutually agreeable licensing terms (to be payable in a variety of instruments including, but not limited to, Blitkoinz.
There’s over-broadly defending your trademark, and then there’s starting with a trademark that’s already in common use - in which case trying to enforce the trademark is like hitting yourself in the head repeatedly with a 2x4 (painful and unproductive).
Going back to a deep cut, yo!
Thank god we got the full story. Who knows what the reaction might have been if they’d submitted it using Comic Sans?
The term “Let’s Play” has been in use continously on the internet for 10+ years. I can’t imagine what possible claim Sony thinks they have to this mark.
Let’s Play is the story of Let, a struggling playwright whom returns from the brink of depression trying to complete his masterpiece and overcomes all odds when his play takes on a life of its own. Coming this summer to a theater near you from Sony Pictures.
Disney wanted to trademark The Day Of The Dead and everyone was like “No, Disney, stop being a dickhead.”
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