
Someone Is Trying to Trademark Use of "Bitcoin" on Clothing - downandout
http://trademarks.justia.com/860/97/bitcoin-86097068.html
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moocowduckquack
Is interesting that Kaglew Management LLC, which is the company trying to
acquire the trademark, is run by Charles Lew, the attorney who is representing
the claim.

 _KAGLEW was created by Charles Lew and Alex Kagianaris, partners in the
boutique law firm, Kagianaris Lew LLP. They are recognized as a highly
motivated and committed, demonstrating extensive experience in restaurant
development and management. They are currently involved in several
restaurants, bars /lounges, and development projects in the Los Angeles area;
all of which showcase their expertise with prominent success rates and notable
recognition._

 _Today, in this tough economy, KAGLEW is proud to identify and present
hospitality and restaurant ventures as commercial opportunities for themselves
and their investors. KAGLEW structures deals for maximum returns and is an
invaluable resource for creating and building wealth in commercial properties.
Some exciting projects KAGLEW has recently developed are the organic vodka
from Hawaii, Ocean Vodka, the highly publicized Crown Bar in West Hollywood
and the popular Gasser LOUNGE in Redondo Beach. STOUT, the latest venture from
KAGLEW, is bringing together two of the fastest growing commodities in the
restaurant industry – gourmet burgers and craft beer. KAGLEW is positioning
STOUT as a high volume high return asset and has plans to open multiple
locations in Southern California and beyond._

I guess they are not doing as well as they hoped in restaurants and craft
beers then.

~~~
delinka
"Is interesting that..."

If a lawyer owns a company that needs legal work, is it so odd that the lawyer
does the work? Seems no more odd than an owner that's also a programmer
writing software for his business.

~~~
moocowduckquack
What I found interesting was not that it was a lawyer doing their own work,
but that the company was a restaurant and beer spinoff from a legal practice,
that so far appears to have had very little to do with clothing. If it was a
clothing company that was trying to trademark the use of bitcoin for a line of
clothing, that would be one thing, but this seems far more speculative an
endeavor.

~~~
iondream
Seems like a money laundering op from the blurb. Any criminal record?

~~~
eru
COMS (hellbanned) wrote the following:

He was involved with Crown Bar and Winston's, two "trendy" expensive LA bars
that were popular many years ago. From his website (KAGLEW.COM), about
trademarks- [http://ale811.wix.com/restaurantgroupla#!Trademark-
Considera...](http://ale811.wix.com/restaurantgroupla#!Trademark-Considera..).
"The name must not be descriptive" "Stay out of the dictionary. If your
prospective mark can be found in a dictionary, it has meaning and will be a
poor candidate for a trademark." That's cut and pasted from a document on
[http://patentax.com/](http://patentax.com/) which also advocates bar owners
patenting designs of chairs, shelves and dinnerware.

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aric
The Bitcoin Foundation needs to make itself useful and quickly
challenge/oppose this application.

~~~
dingaling
Bitcoin Foundation[0] don't have any particular ownership of the term
'Bitcoin'.

In terms of financial services it is trademarked to Mt Gox in various
jurisdictions, as a result of a trademark spat some years ago.

[0] a fair number of people object to the prefix 'The' so I omitted it.

Edit: as to 'prior art' challenges, those aren't significant in first-to-file
jurisdictions such as Europe.

~~~
icebraining
_as to 'prior art' challenges, those aren't significant in first-to-file
jurisdictions such as Europe._

That's not true. First, this is a trademark, not a patent, so first-to-file is
irrelevant. Second, prior art is still significant in first-to-file
jurisdictions, it just has to be published (i.e., it can't be secret).

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malandrew
I don't know how someone thinks this is a good idea in the long run. Yeah, I
guess you'll make some money at some point, but it also seems like these kinds
of shenanigans are only likely to get someone doxxed.

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kaa2102
Beware the trademark trolls.

~~~
chrismcb
Unlike a patent, you actually have to be active in the category to maintain
your trademark.

