Community Tagline Contest, Phase I - Submissions

[clancy_boy]

Nice work Rog - I like that one too.

[S C Streamer]

Attachment 35222

[BIGED52]

.... of my entries are A**stream free... It is a shame that Thor is so very touchy regarding the very use of the A**stream name. Perhaps they need to concentrate more on Quality of construction and be a little less anal that their name might be infringed on by a site domain name. After all we only want to use their name for recognition. So the site uses it to invite owners of these trailers and Moho's to share information on their products and how best to maintain them! Maybe we should call this site: A**streamForums.com as this would not hurt their feelings and would leave the door open for individual interpretation as to the subject matter included on the site. This is really petty of them in my humble opinion and really shows me they don't want to recognize the very people that have helped to build on and improve their image to non-A**stream users. Sorry to say that they won't even care about this and only are concerned in their opinion and no one elses!
Well that's my two cents worth. Thanks for reading. Happy Trails, Ed

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by S C Streamer

Attachment 35222

i love it!

2air'

[sfixx]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

i love it!

2air'

Though it's not true

Steve

[safari57]

Now if Rog's had the trailer sitting beside a stream we'd probably still be legit.

I can see all kinds of fun with T-shirts etc. that have statements like

Air you serious about RV'ing
or just another SOB

I know, very sick, but I just couldn't help myself. It is Easter after all.....

Barry

[Rog0525]

Thor has every right and reason to be protective of Airstream’s intellectual property rights. We see constant abuse of the Airstream trade name on eBay. If Thor doesn’t actively pursue domain name violations, we will see more of the type of apparent scamming which was pointed out in this thread:
http://www.airforums.com/forum...all-31318.html

From what I understand, the change of domain name isn’t being forced on Andy. I think what we’re seeing is an abundance of legal caution by both Andy and the legal team at Thor. Why not just keep things simple for both parties by eliminating the Airstream name from both the logo and the tagline?
Here’s my final submission. I think this should be clear to anyone looking for information on Airstreams without violating any copyrights or trademarks. The little trailer image is mine. It’s a mini sketch of my former ’71 Caravel. Andy is welcome to it if he wants it or he is welcome to substitute a more generic image.

[safari57]

I like this one Rog. It says it all, and doesn't encroach on anyone's need to keep their trademark protected.

And I agree with what Airstream needs to do. GM, Ford, Chrysler and most others have been decisive and spread a wide net to keep as much of their trademark as possible under their control and it makes good sense.

Barry

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by safari57

...

And I agree with what Airstream needs to do. GM, Ford, Chrysler and most others have been decisive and spread a wide net to keep as much of their trademark as possible under their control and it makes good sense.

Barry

But at the same time they support and encourage owner fan clubs. Enthusiatic fan clubs are free advertising and publicity.

Bill

[Condoluminum]

Andy-

FWIW here is link to TESS Search system used to search for Trademarks...

USPTO Design Search Code Manual

When I searched on "Airstream" there are dozens of "live" registered US Trademarks, and the primary is Reg # 3144417, issued (updated) in Sept of 2006, held by Thor Corp of Nevada... Primary International Classes (IC Codes) are 37 (Repair or modifications of vehicles..) or 40 (Manufacture of Vehicles).. In doing some further searching, Thor has also applied for and received other Trademarks protecting their use of the word "Airstream" in categories like clothing articles and restaurants, so they seem to have worked to broaden their trademark coverages. A US Registered mark is pretty strong, but there are also rights for common law marks, and those not used or not protected may be weaker..

Enough Legalese for now.. I love the "AirForums.com" logo, and the Information Highway roadsign...

John the IP Lawyer guy...

[sfixx]

Shall we re-open the contest for further/updated submissions in light of the new forum name or vote on what we have?

Steve

[Andy R]

I think this is the trademark that Airstream, Inc accused of us violating in 2003 when we posted a t-shirt on CafePress.com with a logo that had an Airstream and our domain on it. I guess since Airstream was in our domain name and it was on clothing, that is where they saw the infringement.

Typed: Drawing
Word Mark: AIRSTREAM
Goods and Services:

• IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: clothing articles, namely, shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, ties, jackets, coats, coveralls, headwear, gloves and scarves. FIRST USE: 19830000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19830000IC 011. US 013 021 023 031 034. G & S: camping and outdoor gear, namely, lamps and flashlights. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000
• IC 024. US 042 050. G & S: camping and outdoor gear, namely, camping blankets, bed linens, towels and coasters. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000
• IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: fishing gear, namely, lures. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000
• IC 022. US 001 002 007 019 022 042 050. G & S: camping and outdoor gear, namely, tents, awnings, and multi-purpose cloth bags. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000
• IC 021. US 002 013 023 029 030 033 040 050. G & S: outdoor dinnerware, namely, plates, cups, mugs, glasses and tumblers. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000IC 020. US 002 013 022 025 032 050. G & S: camping furniture, namely, chairs, and countertops for food preparation. FIRST USE: 20050000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050000

Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 76309740
Filing Date September 6, 2001
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition May 13, 2003
Owner (APPLICANT) Thor Tech, Inc. CORPORATION NEVADA 331 Graham Road P.O. Box 158 Imlay City MICHIGAN 484440158
Attorney of Record Richard A. Killworth
Prior Registrations 0189944;0607224;1182011;1597528;2191513;AND OTHERS
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

[Andy R]

I was just typing an email to my contact at Airstream and realized that I don't think there is anyway they will sign an agreement giving us the right to use the word Airstream and a graphic of an Airstream without having a ton of restrictions because that would open a huge door in their trademark protection. We could then create anything we wanted which would reduce the value of their trademark.

Here is my email...

Thanks for the quick response. I am really on the fence about what to do with the tagline. I think the best thing to do to avoid any future backlash is to move forward in a clear way to avoid any confusion of trademark infringement in the future. I know you are a good person (and look forward to working with you) but who knows how long you will be at Airstream and what the next person's take on all this will be.

The trademark in question is serial number 76309740 which covers the use of the word Airstream on clothing (namely, shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, ties, jackets, coats, coveralls, headwear, gloves and scarves) as well as camping and outdoor gear (namely, camping blankets, bed linens, towels, coasters, tents, awnings, and multi-purpose cloth bags) and outdoor dinnerware (namely, plates, cups, mugs, glasses and tumblers).

We do not plan to create goods in all those categories but we do want to create t-shirts, sweatshirts, coasters, cups, mugs, etc. We will add an image of an Airstream to our logo but that should not violate any trademarks since the image will be an original drawing and the word Airstream will not be located in the tagline (or on the merchandise for that matter).

We don't want to even be close to infringing on any of your trademarks. I think it is best to leave the word Airstream out of the name all together.

Kind regards,

Andy R

So that being said, let's move forward with opening up the entries for a while to collect as many entries without the word Airstream in the tagline.

Let's open up the entries for another two weeks. We will increase the amount each person can post to hopefully foster more entries which will hopefully lead to that perfect tagline! Then we will start the rounds of voting to filter out the taglines and have our final vote.

[campadk]

Odd you can't have 'airstream' in the domain name, tagline etc....

Everywhere across the net you will find a gazillion sites devoted to one topic or another that reference the subject directly, be it JeepForum.com, VolkswagenTalk.com, Casitclub.com or a million other websites without breaking some copyright law.

Can't understand why Airstream wants to control/limit this forums use of 'Airstream'.. or for that matter how they have the legal authority. After all the site does more to promote Airstream than any other site on the net!

Hopefully we will still be able to mention the word 'airstream' in future posts without breaking some law...

Whats going to happen to the owners of

airstreamtrailers.com
vintageairstream.com
airstreameurope.com
airstreammotorhomes.com
airstreampark.com

and a bunch of others?

Are 'Airstream' Parks going to have to change their names to something like the 'Minnesota Alumimum Skinned Trailer Park' or the 'Penn Wood Shiny Trailer Park'?

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by Andy R

this thread is going to be kept clean (ie. when we add the entries to the 2nd post, we will be deleting them from the thread. General comments will also be deleted during those clean up times)

i love a good debate, and even some wild leo keychatter...

but before we launch into another 'bash a/s over the copywrite issues'...

re read the lead post.

it is unfair and based entirely on vapor 4 those of us NOT involved directly in the negotiations to project the issue...

or we could have a thread just for debating this...

but history shows those threads get wild and stupid quickly and are closed or removed.

the forum owner and the company need to deal with this.

we need to cook up tag lines....

not poke the principals...

correct?

2air'

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

we need to cook up tag lines....

not poke the principals...

correct?

2air'

Correct. Start cooking...

[safari57]

Originally Posted by wkerfoot

But at the same time they support and encourage owner fan clubs. Enthusiatic fan clubs are free advertising and publicity.

Bill

Bill,

I don't disagree but the only interaction I've had with anything Airstream since acquiring mine is this Forum and it's been incredible. Beyond that I don't have any experiences positive or negative to relate to. I certainly benefit from Chevrolet's enthusiasm for those of us who restore their cars and from Pontiac as well, and many of the dealership owners until recent years have been active collectors/enthusiasts as well. It sure does seem that Thor are missing a huge opportunity to capture the spirit and enthusiasm of a huge group of dynamic cheerleaders who have already bought into the program from what I'm reading on the Forum.

Barry

[safari57]

So, let me ask for clarification, does this mean "let the games begin" with the tag lines once again?

With this creative and diplomatic group we'll come up with something that will have as much if not more impact in short order.

Barry

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by safari57

So, let me ask for clarification, does this mean "let the games begin" with the tag lines once again?

Yes, please post your ideas for taglines without the word Airstream in them.

I have no doubt we will come up with an amazing tagline!!!

[Andy R]

Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that it was 100% my decision to change the domain name and not allow the word Airstream in the tagline. As outlined before this decision was based on a) Airstream, Inc ownership of our domain name b) the fact that Airstream, Inc has trademarks that could be violated if we keep the Airstream name in our tagline and then have clothing or other goods with our tagline on them.

Please refrain from contacting Airstream, Inc to complain about this. Our relationship is going to remain the same and we will continue to operate under our licensing agreement with them.

Thanks,

Andy