Chicago IP Attorney & Lawyer : R. David Donoghue : Chicago IP Litigation Blog

My recent story about Ebert's use of his "Two Thumbs Up" has been receiving a lot of attention (and I even scooped the Sun-Times):

• Likelihood of Confusion -- Ron Coleman agrees with E. Leonard Rubin, interviewed in the Chicago Tribune today, who says that the written "Two Thumbs Up" mark is pretty strong.
  
• Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times -- Feder says that the "Two Thumbs Up" mark is "the most powerful and influential symbol in movie marketing."

The fact that the Patent Reform Act has stalled in Congress, which I discussed earlier this week, has been picked up by several blogs:

• Maryland IP Law Blog -- Citing my post.
  
• Patently-O -- Dennis Crouch says that the Patent Reform Act is not just stalled, it is dead.
  
• 271 Patent Blog -- Leads with a great Simpsons' quote in saying the Act is on hold.

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Blawg Review #123 was published today by the Texas Appellate Law Blog.  For those who do not know, Blawg Review is a review of each week's law-related blog posts hosted by a different legal blog each week.  This week's review is written in the style of an appellate opinion.* The review highlights yesterday's Blog post reporting that Roger Ebert has withdrawn Disney's right to use Ebert's thumbs up/thumbs down trademark until negotiations regarding Ebert's return to his movie review program are resolved.  I will be hosting the Blawg Review on November 5th.

*  The Blawg Review opinion did not reach the issue of whether "blawg" or "law blog" is the correct term for legal blogs.  This is, perhaps surprisingly, a hotly contested issue (and here and here).  I side with Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog.  Legal blog or law blog is sufficiently descriptive and the least confusing title.  "Blawg" is too cute and confuses people.

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On Saturday, the Chicago Tribune reported that Roger Ebert has withdrawn the right to use his trademarked (co-owned with Siskel's estate) thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating system.  Ebert is negotiating a new contract with Disney, the show's producer, after a one year hiatus during which he successfully battled cancer.  Ebert allowed the show and his co-host Richard Roeper to continue using the thumb ratings during what he called "good faith negotiations," but recently changed his mind when he felt negotiations were not progressing sufficiently.  So far, two episodes have been taped without thumb ratings. 

It will be interesting to see whether the thumb ratings are a powerful enough mark to get Ebert the contract he is looking for.  My feeling is that we have moved from the era of thumbs to the era of more comprehensive ratings like Rotten Tomatoes.  It is much easier and more reliable to go to an internet site available whenever you want it (for example, right after you decide to go to a movie) that aggregates opinions of critics around the country, than to wait for a television program and a couple of thumbs.  But the thumbs are icons.

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