DISNEY trademarks "Seal Team 6"

Emma Peel

an unexpected turn of events
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Shameful. The millions of people who support their corporation with their consumer spending need to let them know that this sort of thing doesn't do much for their reputation. They probably never thought it'd be noticed.
 
How can you trademark the name of an actual group???

I don't get it.
 
How can you trademark the name of an actual group???

I don't get it.
Technically, there is no Team 6 within the US Navy SEALS. The name was dropped in 1987.
The name was changed in 1987 to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, but the group is still commonly known as Team 6.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...he-elite-team-6/2011/05/02/AFCC93YF_blog.html

Secondly, the term Disney secured is generic. It doesn't include United States or Navy. Further, the name for the special ops group is not Seals, but SEALS, an acronym for land, sea and air.

Personally, I have no problem with Disney's action.
 
How can you trademark the name of an actual group???

I don't get it.

I understand Bessie's point that "Seal Team 6" isn't technically the name of the real-life group, but I don't get it either. Why is anyone allowed to trademark a phrase that has already become common usage in the public domain?

Maybe, like a lot of things in the legal system, the courts refuse to exercise prior restraint and the trademark is allowed to stand until somebody decides to challenge it. (I'm sure it's obvious I don't know anything about trademark law.)

The problem, as I see it, is that say Kimberly and I decide to write a play called "Seal Team 6": there's no way she and I will ever have the money to fight Disney in court.
 
I understand Bessie's point that "Seal Team 6" isn't technically the name of the real-life group, but I don't get it either. Why is anyone allowed to trademark a phrase that has already become common usage in the public domain?

Maybe, like a lot of things in the legal system, the courts refuse to exercise prior restraint and the trademark is allowed to stand until somebody decides to challenge it. (I'm sure it's obvious I don't know anything about trademark law.)

The problem, as I see it, is that say Kimberly and I decide to write a play called "Seal Team 6": there's no way she and I will ever have the money to fight Disney in court.


Thanks Bessie!! I had no clue it was not their proper name anymore. That's all I have heard them referred to since 5/1.

Interesting.

NOVA,
Right!

I just think it was a tacky move on Disney's part.
 
yeah

tacky is an understatement

just because something is legal doesn't make it right
 
Thanks Bessie!! I had no clue it was not their proper name anymore. That's all I have heard them referred to since 5/1.

Interesting.

NOVA,
Right!

I just think it was a tacky move on Disney's part.

I agree, particularly given the group in question.

I actually wrote a play 10 or 15 years ago that made a reference to Barbie dolls. I was strongly advised to remove it because Mattel was so aggressive in "protecting" their trademark. (For the record, I had written a scene where a girl playing with Barbies staged a lesbian wedding, but I didn't defame the damn doll or even imply that the doll itself was actually gay.) Maybe a famous playwright could have afforded to fight the issue in court, but I doubt it. Mattel had pretty deep pockets.

Anyway I made the change and it didn't kill the play, but Barbies are iconic as symbols of American girlhood in a way that generic dolls are not. And I would argue that Barbie dolls are a big enough part of American culture that artists should be able to refer to them without fear of getting sued.
 
How can you trademark the name of an actual group???

I don't get it.

Actually somebody can trademark your name if they want to. Most celebrities and athletes actually trademark their own names to avoid others doing it and making money off of their name. So when you hear of a celebrity trademarking their name it's not because they are arrogant, it's because they are protecting their own interest.
 
What the heck are they going to do with it? I know Disney is very diversified and does many things now-- maybe a video game or something? :waitasec:
 
What the heck are they going to do with it? I know Disney is very diversified and does many things now-- maybe a video game or something? :waitasec:
A film or video game, most likely, followed by t-shirts, lunchboxes, mousepads, bedsheets, bathmats, etc., etc. If Disney's decision to buy the rights to the monicker seems unsavory, no one's to blame except we American citizens who have a penchant for putting our heroes' images on everything we own. Besides, Disney might've had a property in the works before the raid on OBL.
 
A film or video game, most likely, followed by t-shirts, lunchboxes, mousepads, bedsheets, bathmats, etc., etc. If Disney's decision to buy the rights to the monicker seems unsavory, no one's to blame except we American citizens who have a penchant for putting our heroes' images on everything we own. Besides, Disney might've had a property in the works before the raid on OBL.

Ok, but they bought it trying to cash in on our heroes.

They did it 2 days after the raid.

I still find it tacky.
 
Ok, but they bought it trying to cash in on our heroes.

They did it 2 days after the raid.

I still find it tacky.

I agree. I don't know that the decision to trademark "Seal Team 6" represents a decision at the Board of Directors' level (though I'm sure we can all imagine the animated movie with that title).

I'm sure Disney has a department of people who do nothing but sit around and think of names and phrases to trademark.
 
Tacky from a company who won't even get an 800 #. They want you to pay that long distance dime, not them.
 

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