I came across as article this morning that really left me wondering at some peoples common sense.
I don’t have a huge problem with copyright and I do think companies that deliberately rip off other companies intellectual property for their own profit deserve everything that’s coming to them. But sometime people just act like morons and get a bit too precious over their ‘brand’.
spot the difference...
tough huh? they are virtually identical... NOT
This weeks example is Jimmy Choo’s a shoe company that’s claim to fame is making shoes that are worn by the skinny and unattractive star of Sex and the City.
Mr Choo has got his knickers in a twist about a home based Internet business in Kaukapakapa (that’s a tiny settlement north west of Auckland) called “Kooky Choo” or more correctly www.koookychoo.com
Apparently Mr Choo feels his brand rights have been violated. I invite readers to visit the link about the kookychoo’s site, and then take a look at Jimmy Choo’s site here.
Had a good look? Similar?
Not one bit, in fact the whole thing would be laughable if it wasn’t for the fact that Jimmy Choo’s have got themselves lawyered up and ready to sue the arse off the poor couple in Kaukapakapa if they don’t cease and desist using their domain name.
Technically it’s likely that Jimmy Choo’s lawyers, AJ Park, doesn’t really have a strong case but has been busy scouring the net for options to further their revenue gathering. Unfortunately for the owners of Kookychoo, they don’t have the money to fight this so they will have to give in and lose their domain name and in effect the business they have built up.
I hope the lawyers at AJ Park who dreamt up this little money making scheme can sleep easy at night knowing they are screwing over people trying to make a living, because quite frankly this shows why people think lawyers are a bunch of shysters.
I’d be nice to think that Jimmy Choo himself (if such a person exsists) who take a look at this and realise he’s making a proper twat out of himself and call off the lawyers.
Choo is pretty common Chinese name from this part of the world. I am not sure how is he going to issue lawyer letter to ask everyone having business with that “Choo” in it to remove it.
-woody
I could not agree with you more over this. And have those AJ Parks lawyers sent out nasty letters to all those other “Choo” users that come up when you do a google search for Choo? Poor old Kookychoo does not even make a mention. Take a look at the AJ Parks web-site and one of the Patents partners is doing an impression of Jude Law. Now is that right I ask you?
I am the co-owner of the little New Zealand on-line gift store Kookychoo. I have seven children and have spent hundreds of hours in my evenings getting the Kookychoo website ready to go live. I believe Jimmy Choo is heartless sending me a letter one week before Christmas demanding that I cease trading and also pay his legal fees! Today we found an intellectual property lawyer to do a some pro bono work for us which means David is going to fight Goliath! You may want to check out YouTube and put in Kookychoo in the search box. Any little notes to Jimmy Choo to back off would also be fantastic. I would really appreciate any support you and your friends can offer. Sharing the love, Looie from Kookychoo.com
Whats obvious here is that there’s a chinese shoe designer with the family name ‘Choo’. Thats a common chinese family name.
Then he’s got another common english name, ‘Jimmy’.
This makes it hard to maintain exclusivity and originality of a brand name.