I don't even want me to be president.
Ben Carson has a new lawyer. An intellectual rights lawyer. His name is Clyde Vanel and he sent a
cease and desist letter to CafePress for Intellectual Property Infringement.
It has come to our attention that an unauthorized use of my clients' intellectual property,
including but not limited to trademark infringement, copyright infringement, misappropriation of name and likeness, privacy rights infringement is being hosted on the CafePress.com service and platform.
CafePress
writes back:
Starting with the related issues of trademark infringement and misappropriation of name and likeness, we acknowledge there is a campaign organization called Ben Carson for President 2016, and you, acting on behalf of the campaign, have applied for a trademark registration for a logo that includes those words, shown in specific color pattern. But so far as have been able to discern, none of the items linked at the web page you have identified uses that logo as it appears in the registration application and on each page of your client's campaign web site.
At most, the items display the phrase "Ben Carson for President 2016," often appearing in the patriotic colors of red, white and blue. Many of them simply use Carson's name, or just his given name or his profession. You cannot use trademark theories to ride roughshod over members of the American public who either share your clients' views and favor Carson's candidacy, or for that matter disagree with their views and oppose Carson's candidacy.
Good point. More?
More important are the issues of fair use and the First Amendment, which apply equally to your purported misappropriation of name and likeness claims as well as to your trademark claims. Speech about a candidate for president is squarely protected by the First Amendment, hence any effort to use trademark law to quash such uses is highly suspect. Although CafePress users' products are sold, their contents are noncommercial speech, which qualifies for full First Amendment protection.
How about snark?
Your reference to a purported invasion of Carson's privacy is particularly foolish. Given the intense scrutiny that presidential candidates receive in this day and age, it is a matter of some doubt whether any statement about a presidential candidate, especially one who now stands second in the polls of the Republican nomination, could constitute an invasion of privacy, no matter how personal. But there is nothing "private" in the expression contained on the products that CafePress carries-- they are all specifically about the Carson candidacy. That candidacy is certainly not private.
Hehe. Finally:
Most of the items contain some variation of the phrase "Ben Carson for President 2016." That expression lacks sufficient originality for copyright protection. Indeed, if the phrase were copyrightable, your clients might not be the owners of the copyright, because they might not have been the first to fix it in a tangible medium of expression. It is quite possible that some supporter hoping to encourage Carson to run may have written it down before Carson did. That person would own the copyright, if the phrase were copyrightable, and your clients would be among the infringers.
[Bold my emphasis.]
Dr. Carson, get control of your lawyers.
You can read the the letters here and here.