This latest outrage should be, and may well be, struck down by a court. For now, it stands as the latest example of how far trademark and copyright issues are being pushed, and the risk to all our freedom that they entail.
Consider the two logos you see here - one for the Moonray Espresso shop in the small, and somewhat remote, town of Duvall, Washington; the other for Moonstruck Chocolates, a chocolate company based in Portland which has developed "chocolate cafes" there and in California and Illinois, none yet in Washington state. Its shops sell coffee, too, as a sideline.
That geographic distance and industry distinction hasn't stopped Moonstruck from taking legal action against Moonray, the allegation being an infringement on its trademark. Moonstruck is much the larger business, and Moonray's owners express concern they could be driven out of business by legal costs. It's not an idle concern.
The Seattle Times reports that "residents are circulating petitions, gathering donations and spreading the word through blogs. Bellevue alternative band AltSpeak performed at Moonray on Friday and will donate proceeds to the legal expenses. Guitarist and singer Iggy Faus said the band did it 'as a matter of principle' to support a small-business owner."
It's a matter of principle, all right. The small, remote coffee shop, which uses a name and logo only distantly remnant of the much bigger chocolate shop's, poses no realistic threat to the Portland business. The Duvall community, on the other hand, may soon see one of its key meeting places crushed out, likely because an attorney somewhere in a Portland high-rise thought a client needed to aggressively "protect its interests." It seems, from here, to be an over-aggressive protection.
Not many people think, yet, about trademark law reform. But as these cases proliferate, and they have, they should start thinking about it, else our ability to use half the words in the English language and half of our visual symbology is lost to legal clients who have the financial clout to seize the right to use it exclusively, and forever.