Coca-Cola sues restaurant over name

[Discogod]

Story

What do you guys think? It is in a similar font, but several letters are just different enough... Still, can't see him winning this one.

[Bobcat79]

He should just change it because it's ugly. Never seen a restaurant sign set in "Chiller" before, and probably for good reason...

Eh, honestly, I don't see Coca-Cola winning this one either. To me the only big similarity is the capital R. Yes, they're both similar fonts, if not the same, but to me the defining characteristic of the Relentless drink can is the extra curvy stuff going on AROUND the letters.

[illwauk]

>yawn< Just another example of greedy corporations with too many lawyers and not enough to do. Any judge worth the air they breathe will toss this out.

[JayJaxon]

If all of us can see that it's not so similar, why the hell can't they? Kinda ridiculous if you ask me.

[Mac the Knife]

Personally I've never heard of that Coca-Cola brand, so my guess is that they (unusually) haven't done a very good job with the brand anyway.

[mania]

Well, from what I can tell, it appears only to be available in certain markets. Maybe it's huge in England.

[Gothamite]

>yawn< Just another example of greedy corporations with too many lawyers and not enough to do. Any judge worth the air they breathe will toss this out.

Yeah!

Who do they think they are, protecting intellectual property, an' all that? Who appointed them to decide the laws?

[Hathaway Browne]

Great name for an energy drink, dumb name for a restaurant.

[Discogod]

Well, from what I can tell, it appears only to be available in certain markets. Maybe it's huge in England.

Yup, it's a fairly large brand over here. I've not tried it (I don't buy Coca-Cola products), but it's pretty similar to Red Bull.

[RyanB06]

>yawn< Just another example of greedy corporations with too many lawyers and not enough to do. Any judge worth the air they breathe will toss this out.

Yeah!

Who do they think they are, protecting intellectual property, an' all that? Who appointed them to decide the laws?

If it has merit, I'm in full agreement. This case doesn't. The two logos aren't even close to being similar.

[loogodude90]

I think that the two logos are too similar. I don't think a company like Coca-Cola would pursue an issue like this unless they really thought it was an issue. As with most court cases though, the decision will probably go to whoever has more money, or a better lawyer, or is better friends with the judge.

[gordie_delini]

This is pathetic - the restaurant's "logo" is a blackletter typeface, coca-cola is a custom drawn script. The article further says how the restaurant owner merely typed the name in "the Olde English font on my home computer". Will coke sue the type foundry? Bollocks. I'm all for protecting your trademark and copyrights, but this one just doesn't hold water.

[Davidson]

I'm not so sure Coke won't win this. I guess to an extent the decision will be effected by whos logo is older?

It's a relatively new brand, I've only been aware of it for the last couple years. They align themselves with the extreme sport market as a Red Bull alternative.

I guess if you are more familiar with the drink brand, its easier to see Cokes point.

Its easy to see this is a big company beating up on the little guy, but I can certainly understand a 'no tolerance' approach to protecting your trademarks.

[altosax29b]

I see ground to be upset if I'm Coca Cola, they look pretty similar if you take a step back.

[IceCap]

I see ground to be upset if I'm Coca Cola, they look pretty similar if you take a step back.

I disagree. They both utilize a font based on old English, and that's about it. The fonts are different enough, and Relentless drink logo has those extra tough guy/tribal tattoo designs around the script. Plus one's an energy drink and the other's a steak house. Not a lot of room for confusion there.

[burgundy]

At a glance, I can see a resemblance, but in reality it's not even close. I think the main cause of the resemblance is the black and white scheme. If the restaurant had used blue, there'd probably be no issue, as the scripts themselves are completely different. None of the letters are even similar.

[RETROJR79]

I think it was just a coicidence. The next thing you know Activision will sue TNA over the Jeff Jarrett logo looking like the Guitar Hero logo.

[Jimmy!]

There's a Relentless clothing line, too. Does Coke own that?

Ridiculous.

[Buster]

I'm not seeing it. I do Calligraphy and have used that Old English style a LOT. It's a standard lettering style.

I was expecting the trademarked letter C being re-used. This is not a case.

If we're looking at the fonts:

None of the letters even look the same. The S has an Old English Calligraphy slash through it, Coke's does not. The N has different points on the bottom. The E looks completely different. Coke's R is pretty stiff vertically, the restaurants has more circular flourishes to it. The L is not even pointed the same way at the bottom.

They are completely different. The only thing similar is the charcoal color, which does not belong to anyone but God.

As for the name, I do not see "Steak and Lobster House" on the can. That's part of the restaurant's name. It's a word in the English language, not an original word made up by Coca-Cola. If the place was called "Sprite Lemon and Lime Bakery" or "Coke Zero Drug Rehabilitation"...maybe they'd have a case on the name, but this is a common word and uses a completely dissimilar logo/wordmark.

[Buster]

Even more ridiculous:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8282967.stm