"Caution" Is a Trademarked Term

DRaider90

DRaider90

Uwharrie Off-Road Volunteering
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Location
Weddington, NC
On the side I design 4x4 stickers and shirts etc just for kicks essentially, and I was making some 4x4 Caution stickers. When I uploaded them they were automatically blocked for Copy Right infringement. This is what I found out:

Mr. Vitello's registration (Federal Registration No. 2195828) is for the following goods and services: "men's and women's clothing, namely, boxer shorts, boxer briefs, briefs, thongs, lingerie, pajamas, nightshirts, robes and swimwear.
Click to expand...

But to prevent legal suits etc you basically can't use the word "Caution" on any type of stickers or anything. I know the guy has a right to protect his "brand" but this is a going a little far. I think I will open up a "Danger" brand and copyright/trademark it.

This is just plain out retarded, but oh well. /End of Rant.
 
Me thinks you were after a certain font which may well be copyright protected by said merchandiser.

the word itself can't be copyrighted, just the logotype and design

otherwise there would be a licensing agreement on every peice of industrial machinery made to date, they are covered with CAUTION lables
 
I did some research and the official word is he has a copyright (or trademark rather) on "Caution Underwear/Apparel". So you can't put Caution on any type of clothing. Or as they put it:

In accordance with our Intellectual Property Rights Policy, the owner of the “Caution” trademark, has notified us that the use of the word “Caution” in product titles, product descriptions and/or in products potentially infringes upon the “Caution!” trademark.
Click to expand...

So in reality stickers don't fall under this, only shirts and clothing. But to cover their ass and avoid attorney fees fighting this moron they will not allow any products with the word Caution on them. So you can't make Caution stickers, or anything else through Cafe Press because he has a "Caution!" Underwear line.

Also I am not the first one to run into this problem, there are other people that have posted up issues with this. As far as the font goes I have used the font in many of my images, and all I did was change "Caution" to "Warning" and the stickers are back up.

So due to this idiot they won't print anything with caution to avoid the outstanding legal fees to fight any possible lawsuits etc. I know anyone would win (if brought against him) because it has been established his trademark only applies to clothing, but people don't want to invest the money/time into it.
 
rockcity said:
Cafe Press? There are local guys that can do the same thing and you shouldn't have to change your wording
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of any local guys, but most places I have looked into want you to buy designs (shirts, stickers, or what ever it may be) in bulk (then you sell them). I do my design stuff as a hobby sort of, and just put it up in case anyone ever wants it. I do it for fun and for the community, otherwise I would have stopped being $100 in the hole after a few years in hosting fees. It pays off when I see the stickers on the trucks, or the shirts being worn at Uwharrie etc.

It just pissed me off because it was so stupid, an irrelevant trademark preventing me from making some basic stickers. I changed them and re-posted them, it was more of a "This is fucking stupid to deal with" than anything. The stickers still turned out fine with "Warning" instead of "Caution".:beer:
 
My biggest question is who was the fool, or person's that allowed a word to be copy righted!? Makes me think I should copy write some of the more popular words. I think it's kinda silly myself. I mean, if a person had enough money to copy write say 1000 of the most popular words, and then buy interest in the Roget's thesaurus, looks like you could become rich quickly!
 
rockcity said:
Cafe Press? There are local guys that can do the same thing and you shouldn't have to change your wording
Click to expand...

You just need somebody to print the stickers? I bet you could strike a deal w/ a local guy...

(ccough cough Brent Crazy 8 Graphics cough cough)
 
Back
Top