Tuesday, February 20, 2007

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Trade the mark

I happened to see an old advertisement on TV a week or so ago, one which most Americans will recognize — it seems that it's back. It's the one where the elderly woman has fallen and is lying on the floor of her house, unable to get to a telephone for help. Fortunately, she's wearing that pendant with the emergency button that'll let her call for help whence she lies. We all know the phrase. “Help!”, she cries, “I've fallen and I can't get up!” Good job she's not winded too.

But there's something new on the ad now. It seems that “I've fallen and I can't get up!”® is now actually a registered trademark.

Yo.

And speaking of trademarks: NPR tells us that there's a fight over which town gets the trademark, “Icebox of the Nation”:

Morning Edition, February 20, 2007 — Two towns are battling to be known as the “Icebox of the Nation.” Fraser, Colo., surrendered the slogan 17 years ago, selling its claim for $2,000. The buyer was International Falls, Minn. But officials in International Falls forgot to renew their federal trademark, so “Icebox” is up for grabs again and Fraser wants it back.

Where, one wonders, is the beef?

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