Nothing in the reported case prevents anyone from saying Thank You or Thanks. Implying otherwise is unhelpful.<span></span><br><br>On Saturday, June 11, 2016, Stephanie Perrin <<a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca">stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<p><font size="+1"><font face="Lucida Grande">I am with Carleton on
this one. Everybody should be allowed to say thanks. not enough
of it around....</font></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><font face="Lucida Grande">Stephanie Perrin<br>
</font></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><font face="Lucida Grande"></font></font><br>
</p>
<br>
<div>On 2016-06-10 21:13, Carlton Samuels
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
Greg:
<div>I hold no brief for Reuters. I looked at the PTO database and
saw all you said. And quite frankly if I were an IP lawyer in
the trenches and on the clock, I probably would be encouraging
these fellas to fight.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>All that aside, howsoever you slice or dice it, granting
exclusive commercial rights to [qualified] "thanks" or
"thankyou" seems over the top.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Carlton</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">On Fri, Jun 10, 2016, 5:13 PM Greg Shatan <<a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','gregshatanipc@gmail.com');" target="_blank"></a><a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','gregshatanipc@gmail.com');" target="_blank">gregshatanipc@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Not sure anyone
needs to be tarred and feathered here. But let's get
the facts straight. (Perhaps those who don't get the
facts straight are the ones who should be tarred &
feathered, etc., but that seems rather harsh. I prefer
to educate rather than vilify.)</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Citi did not sue
AT&T for "using the word in a commercial." Citi sued
AT&T for apparently seeking to brand its new
customer loyalty program as AT&T THANKS when
Citibank already has a longstanding (since 2004)
customer loyalty program branded as CITI THANK YOU, with
about 15 million members in the US, and a trademark
registered since 2011 for "<font color="#ff0000"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">Promoting
the goods and services of others through
administration of incentive reward and redemption
programs by distributing rewards for credit and
debit card use, and for banking and wealth
management customer </span><b style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">loyalty</b></font>".
And AT&T didn't merely use the THANKS brand, they
applied for a trademark registration for AT&T THANKS
for "<span>Providing
incentive award programs for customers for the purpose
of promoting and rewarding loyalty.</span>" </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">It seems like an
entirely reasonable claim that consumers could be
confused between a THANK YOU brand loyalty program and a
THANKS brand loyalty program. Without opining on the
likelihood of success, it's an entirely reasonable claim
of infringement. Indeed the subject matter of this
email demonstrates such confusion -- THANKS is not
"trademarked" by anyone, in spite of the
attention-getting headline. CITI THANK YOU is a
registered trademark of Citigroup. AT&T THANKS is
the subject of a pending application by AT&T.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">If AT&T had
merely "used the word in a commercial" and not as a
trademark, there would be nothing to object to, and no
claim, and this email wouldn't exist. The actual facts
are significantly different. </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">That's the
problem with suggesting tarring and feathering, and
other such actions of a mob mentality. They are based
on incorrect facts and a desire to inflame people,
rather than to inform them. Unfortunately, information
can come too late to save the victims of such an attack
(hot tar causes serious and often fatal burns).
Thankfully, all that was suggested was a rhetorical
tarring and feathering, so no one actually suffered at
the hands of an ill-informed, intemperate mob.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Hope that is
informative.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Greg</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">[Caveats: (1) I
am a CITI THANK YOU cardholder and use my THANK YOU
points regularly on Amazon where they are available as
dollars. (2) From around 1999 to 2004, the firm I was
with represented Citigroup in trademark matters, though
I personally didn't do very much of that work. I have
not had any professional relationship with Citigroup
since 2004 (3) This should not be construed as legal
advice.] </div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 3:15 PM,
Carlton Samuels <span dir="ltr"><<a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','carlton.samuels@gmail.com');" target="_blank"></a><a href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','carlton.samuels@gmail.com');" target="_blank">carlton.samuels@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default">..and Citi
sues AT&T for using the word in a
commercial! It also owns <a href="http://thankyou.com" target="_blank">thankyou.com</a>
as well! </div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I checked the
USPTO database and it was a revelation; lots of
"thankyou" there, dead and alive. See: <a href="http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:ku1j42.1.1" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:ku1j42.1.1" target="_blank">http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:ku1j42.1.1</a></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">So I ask you,
who're the halfwits that need to be tarred,
feathered and put in stock in the village square
for a quick kick in the butt from every passerby?</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-at-t-citigroup-lawsuit-idUSKCN0YW1K3" target="_blank">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-at-t-citigroup-lawsuit-idUSKCN0YW1K3</a></font><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif">-Carlton</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif">[Disclosure: I'm partial to
AT&T on account they paid for graduate
school.]</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="comic sans
ms, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default">==============================<br>
</div>
<div>
<div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Carlton A
Samuels<br>
Mobile: <a href="tel:876-818-1799" value="+18768181799" target="_blank">876-818-1799</a><br>
<i><font color="#33CC00">Strategy, Planning,
Governance, Assessment & Turnaround</font></i><br>
=============================</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">
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