Got Route 66 Usa Photos And Art?

Just be careful. Pretty sure i saw that the Route66 sign was listed on a landmark trademark places list that you can't sell photos of.

Not quite. Someone in Europe trademarked it, but it doesn't apply in the US. If you have Route 66 work, write to your Congressman and Senators. If enough people do, especially if their business is being damaged, the government could be persuaded into getting involved.

http://www.route66news.com/2010/04/26/vendors-roiled-by-route-66-trademark-claim/


Or we could get a group together and trademark every landmark in the EU countries that granted trademarks to this entity.

So i can put up my photo again of the Route 66 sign. that's awesome. Yea when i did online research about route 66 a few months ago i saw it on a list of trademark items you couldn't sell stuff of.

I would.

Maybe Abbie can weigh in about what they'd do if FAA got a takedown notice.

I don't have any Route 66 images, so I wouldn't have standing, but it seems like a Route 66 group would be a good place to rally people together who do and coordinate contacting the relevant members of Congress.

For general information, petitions, online or otherwise don't work. Physical letters work best, followed by phone calls and email.

It would be sent to our lawyer, David. I'm not sure beyond that.

Here is a quote from ROUTE66NEWS.COM

“Route 66” and the famous Route 66 shield are in the public domain in the United States; no one here can make a trademark claim on it.
However, someone in Europe has made a trademark claim of Route 66. As far as we know, it’s still in effect. In what European and other countries the trademark exists is unknown.
Although vendors selling Route 66 products in the United States can do so without running afoul of trademark law, it may be a different story in Europe.

I added three. Not sure if they meet the requirements, but I'm sure the End of the Road one should. It's a sign on the Santa Monica Pier. Next stop... the ocean!

My antique store was on Route 66... Santa Monica Boulevard, here in Los Angeles.

I'm not sure how my simple invite above got turned into a paranoid legal discussion. I'm not worried. If you can take outdoor photos of streets in New York City (or anywhere else) and sell them even though signs may be included, I guess it should be ok to take pictures of things found along the old Route 66 highway locations. If someone were to contact me claiming to "own" anything Route 66 I would be very surprised. But I would review the legitimacy of any takedown requests at that time I guess.

By the way, although my invite to the group above was brief, I accept a wide variety of photos and art relating to the subject of this old road, for instance, anything relating to the cultural aspect of the road in its heyday, and in its decline. It marked a certain period in our country's history and there is much of the old Route 66 nostalgia art out there, as well as art relating to the ruins and shells of the past still found along the road.

P.s. - Since I see so much confusion in artistic circles regarding Trademarks and Copyrights (2 different things), I am providing the following info I put together - for those who care to review it. (I used to work with Tm and CR applications in a law firm.)

Trademarks

Trademark applications can be filed to protect your use of a word, symbol, phrase, logo, that is being used by the applicant in commerce in relation to identifying the source of a particular set of goods and/or services. Filing an application does not mean you will be granted a registration. Applications are reviewed by PTO examiners to determine if your application is likely to cause any confusion with a pre-existing registration obtained for a similar trademark in relation to similar goods and services.

Also, your desired TM must be distinctive and unique in regards to the goods and services named in your application. It cannot be a generic term. There have been many trademarks granted that eventually lose their status as a trademark, because common usage of the trademark name replaces the original generic term - for example - people now commonly ask for a Kleenex when they are asking for a tissue, Kleenex once thought to be distinct and unique in relation to its product now is considered fairly generic, causing a loss of trademark status.

Trademark duration - Even if you have obtained a trademark registration, the TM is granted for 10 years only. You can renew your registration for an additional 10 years, but only if you can prove you are still using the TM in commerce.

The Lanham Act is the U.S. law on TMs. Other countries have similar laws, but of course are free to make their own requirements.


Overview of Trademark Law:
http://cyber.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm

Trademark Infringement:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trademark_infringement


An Example using Route 66 Live Applications and Registrations:

Click for the main TESS search page at the U.S. PTO website. https://www.uspto.gov/trademark

In the Search options, use Basic Search and type in Route 66, selecting Live marks:

Note that clicking on any of the search results will show that the applications or trademarks in this list apply only to identified classes of goods or services - often called a Design Code. Ex: Route 66 Casino Hotel, Route 66 Tequila, etc. These examples are not registering the name Route 66 but are registering the actual full text and design image included on these applications/registrations (this is in reference to their product as coded). It doesn’t apply to all uses anywhere on anything.

Note that Trademarks hardly ever apply to someone’s fine art photograph or painting. No artist ever applies for a trademark unless it is in reference to their business logo or name, certainly never in reference to each individual image they create.


Trademarks are often confused (by artists and others) with Copyrights - a much different thing.

Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works. (But you gain additional protection if you are registered, should a dispute arise.)

Artistic works (such as original images posted on FAA) are generally covered not by trademark laws, but by Copyright laws. However most artists cannot afford to file a copyright on every image they create. The only time you might want to do this is if you have an extremely popular image and so you may want that extra protection to help you if you see others copying and profiting from your extremely popular work.

In copyright, proving the date you created the artwork or photo is the main thing giving you preference, but also if you are registered and the infringer is not, you have already won the case. But filing a copyright again is not necessary to already have some protection under CR laws. Just don’t forget that an infringer can also file a copyright.

See more at U.S. Copyright Office: https://www.copyright.gov/

Just a few basics, there is much law applicable to both TMs and CRs.

Please note that all legal advice in the forum is not legal advice and you must always do your own due diligence

Thank you.

Absolutely Isabella... I view this (my above post) as general legal information provided to the public, not legal advice.

Well, since it appears to be that there are other POD sites that have removed Route 66 related items at the request of the person in Europe who trademarked the design, I don't think it's being paranoid to discuss the possibility that he'll try to do the same here if he becomes aware of it.

Personally, if I had Route 66 related images, I'd be proactive and write to the relevant officials.

What Bonnie posted above pertains to U.S. law.

Intellectual property (IP) law, including trademark and copyright law, can be quite different in other countries. The U.S. has various treaties in place with most other countries RE: IP law. To understand the extent to which the U.S. and other countries have agreed to respect each others' law, you have to read the applicable treaties.

Reading treaties is not my idea of a fun way to spend an afternoon... or a week... or a lifetime. Someone would have to pay me to do that.

Sometimes if an item is sold in a particular country, that is enough for courts where the item was sold to assert jurisdiction and hear the case.

If you know a logo, or image, or whatever, is trademarked in another country, you might want to avoid selling anything with that trademark on it in that country.

Some entities, fashion houses come to mind, tend to have a lot of counterfeit items sold with their logos on them... for example, the fake designer stuff they sell on street corners. Much of the international trademark law is designed to address the problem of counterfeit goods.

Disclaimer: As always, not legal advice.

I just searched TESS, the US Patent and Trademark Offce database that shows registered trademarks and their status. It looks to me as if there are live trademarks, registered in 2011, of "Route 66," plus a whole long list of Route 66 in combination with other words.

Unlike researching whether an image is copyrighted, the trademark database is very easy to search, you can find things in a matter of minutes.

You all can see for yourselves. USPTO.gov

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adding: As Bonnie says above, registering a trademark doesn't cover all uses, everywhere. To win a trademark claim, you generally have to prove "brand name confusion."

Since Route 66 is the name of a highway... (this isn't law, just an idea I had), I would think that trademarking highway names would pose some problems with respect to the use of Route [fill-in-the-blank number] by the government for naming highways. As a practical matter, I can't imagine that using "Route 66" in reference to the U.S. highway would be something that could be prevented by a trademark holder. That seems as if it should be in the public domain.

If you're photographing a tequila bottle label - where the logo includes a road sign for Route 66, that might be a different story.

Disclaimer: As always, not legal advice.

Cheryl

I guess the question is, can something designed by an entity of the US government, which is by law in the public domain, be registered as a valid trademark, especially by an entity in another country?

And if that entity requests DCMA takedown notices, can they be sued for restraint of trade?

Hi David,
Funny, I was just adding that thought to my post, above, while you were typing.

I don't know what other countries can do... the trademark / copyright law in those countries can be different than U.S. law.

It does seem like a bad idea to trademark a street name in any country... that's just asking for someone to come along and challenge your trademark. I think you can trademark a logo that has a combination of public domain elements in it -- the overall logo design would be protected, any individual element that was public domain would remain public domain.

Disclaimer: As always, not legal advice.

Our German trademark protection and patent office has several entries for Route 66. As a visual mark and word mark, for various companies in Europe, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany. Here is the direct link: https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/trefferliste
Perhaps this info helps a bit further.