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May 06, 2006

West Point - Defender of Free Speech

The Army has warned an anti-war group called West Point Graduates Against the War to stop using the words "West Point" in its name, saying it is a violation of a registered trademark. — AP

Dear Mom and Pop,

Today was a typical day here at the Academy™. Thursdays are light days academically — I have a Lit seminar and not much else. We're reading Death of a Salesman®. Willy Lomansm is so depressing! Our prof spent thirty minutes explaining why his saying "You gotta know the territory"™ is ironic because Lomansm doesn't know his own family. He must think our heads are made of 100% Wisconsin Cheddar™!

Anyway, that was only an hour and a half seminar. Then we got to go on the rifle range. Dad, I think you're just wrong about the M-16™. It's a heck of a sweet shot.

Then me and my new plebe™ friend, Tad, went and had hot gay sex in the shower. ("Don't ask, don't tell,"© wink wink.) We started in the West Point™ Back Saddlesm position, with me on bottom, and then we flipped over into the West Point™ Truckdriversm position, which is one of my favorites. Then he took his enormous West Point™ and gently rubbed the base of my West Point™ until he got to my West Point™, and before you know it, there was West Point™ all over the place!

So, over all I'm enjoying this man's army™, and am sure glad it's not an Army™ of One® :)


PS: I could not find a trademark notice on the West Point site. [Tags: army west_point free_speech copyright copyleft politics]

Posted by D. Weinberger at May 6, 2006 09:28 AM


Comments

A quick scan of TESS, the USPTO search page on the web didn't turn up anything that seems to prohibit mentioning a military academy. IANAL. (They do weird session stuff, so I don't think I can reliably link to TESS. Possibly http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=eplov7.1.1 then manually search from there.)

It did, however, turn up live trademarks for cigarettes, Commemorative coins and medallions, earrings, pendants, lapel pins, tie tacks, tie bars, belt buckles of precious metal, Golf Balls, golf club covers, Christmas tree ornaments, jigsaw puzzles, retail specialty store services featuring domestic and imported food and drink, and DAIRY PRODUCTS, NAMELY, BUTTER.

One of the marks does talk about brochures and the like, but I know little enough about trademark law that I'll shut up now. -m

Posted by: Micah Dubinko | May 6, 2006 04:37 PM


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