UK Secretary of State for Defense stops t-shirt worth £10

+1

Of course what the Secretary of State holds a trademark for according the IPO is the Type D roundel only. In the legal world it is only that which is written in the order which counts. The roundel on the T-Shirt is a Type A.1 so is different to the item on which a registered trademark is held and that is before we get to the different shades of red and blue.

…. the Americans now, they treated their flag like the Turin Shroud, ….

The reason the American’s treat their flag with such reverence Tony, is because it is to them their country & identity. They pledge allegiance to their flag not the president, whereas in the UK if there is such allegiances pledged they are to the reigning Monarch and not the flag. To us a flag is a flag. It is so much more to an American. (I had this explained to me whilst I was over there)
I hope that helps.
ATVB
Gary

So let me get this straight;

It’s the roundel which is the problem. The roundel in this case comes from the HAC Hurricane (via a photo).
The MOD tells Zazzle to take it down, and they do.
According to the WIX forum, the MOD says they are not that crazy about the roundel issue and says Zazzle is over-reacting.

So what was the point in complaining the first time around if they “actually agree” to the fact it’s silly to bother with these things that much?

I thought it was the name actually, removed the Hawker from the design and uploaded again. I will simply do something to the roundel or something instead, or simply wait for the MODs response and tell Zazzle.

I have e-mailed MOD and asked just what needs to removed for the image on the shirt to be “okay”.

This is quite something!

I am surprised they bothered, the Americans now, they treated their flag like the Turin Shroud, the RAF station one at Odiham was treated more like a whores drawers and could be found crumpled up on the floor under the desk in the guardroom when I was there

ah, that was me a few years ago. It WAS a very large flag and I had just washed it and run it up my flag pole to dry. I was asked to take it down by a member from the RAF (which I did immediately) A few days later I washed a German navy (WWII) battle ensign and hoisted it up to dry……… with no comments from anybody.

Baz

Isn’t this like the person who ran an RAF flag up a pole in his garden and was made to take it down.
So he ran up an Iraq flag instead which is legal.
Presumably a Swastika and a 109 would be fine?

I was puzzled by this as I once went through the trademark registration process and had come up against the limitations on a trademark. I suggest you review, for instance, Trademark UK00002337412 on www.ipo.gov.uk. What we really need as a starting point is the precise objection that resulted in the merchantise being withdrawn. That would help clarify what is going on and otherwise we are kind of shooting in the dark.

You can’t ‘just ignore them’. If Zazzle have pulled the shirt from their site, it’s game over, unless you want to enter into a very lengthy and costly legal battle.

It’s all tosh. If the colours are a shade or two different…then, it’s not even the same. Historically, it’s just a cockade. They are as old as the hills and used before aeroplanes were even thought of. Personally, I’d just ignore them. Are they going to get snotty about images of the Union Jack too…? Stop all the transfers in model kits..? How absurd.

It’s definitely the roundel. It may seem trite but IIRC there were two reasons behind the IPR ‘crusade’. Firstly, the concern that unfettered use could lead to a company or organisation using it in a non-benign way and discrediting the RAF; secondly, the loss of revenue from unlicensed use by a plethora of bands and organisations over the years.

It does seem a little draconian to suppress small scale supportive use…..

Easy…just change or reverse the colors of the roundel.

It’s the roundel

Re 1

DCK

If it was me, I’d “publish and be damned”.

Any possible copyright would have been held by Hawker. Seventy years or more after the Hurricane appeared? Long expired.

Lynch him….. :p

Suppose you now have a wardrobe full of new tee shirts, model companies etc pay royalties btw.

Mods and Rockers had better watch out, get on that magic bus i say.

I would like to add that the MOD responded very promptly and courteously to my inquiry

I’m still waiting to hear from the Directorate of Intellectual Property Rights over a query I made 3 years ago…:rolleyes:

Unfortunately Zazzle are a bit over the top when it comes to this.

One chap over on WIX wrote to the MOD a while back over the same issue. 8th post down in this thread.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45056

I suspect it is the use of the roundel – just don’t make duvets….

Quite. Whoever would want to encourage youngsters to think well of the armed forces? Silly idea…

I suspect it is the use of the roundel – just don’t make duvets….

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/12/next.retail