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Oprah’s “aha moment”— Is this your trademark’s “aha moment?”
© Cheryl Hodgson 2010 | Posted on January 15, 2010
“Aha moment.” What do you think of when you hear that phrase? Or should I ask who do you think of? Oprah Winfrey would like it to be her! However, after her recent settlement with Mutual of Omaha insurance company, she might not be the only one that can use the popular phrase.
Oprah’s production company, Harpo Productions, had originally claimed that “aha moment” was a trademark from her television show. At , you will find numerous videos showing the “aha moments” of various celebrity guests. Some of those moments include, “finding a different kind of happiness, learning to prioritize, and the courage to do something new.”
Harpo learned that Mutual of Omaha was using the slogan “official sponsor of the aha moment,” and sent them a letter asking them to stop use. Omaha responded by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Omaha arguing that they had already been granted preliminary approval of a federal trademark for the slogan.
Harpo had previously applied for trademark protection of “aha moments” in entertainment services and in magazines, while Omaha applied to register “Proud sponsor of life’s aha moments,” “Official sponsor of life’s aha moments,” and “Celebrating life’s aha moments” in the insurance industry.
In doing a Google search, I found that Omaha also owns the domain <ahamoment.com> where they describe “A moment of clarity, the aha moment is a defining moment where you gain real wisdom—wisdom you can use to change your life.”
Even though Oprah had made the mark famous, Omaha alleged that she failed to police the mark and there was no opposition to its trademark application. The case was settled out of court. This story can be your “aha moment” in brand protection. I’ve written much about the importance of developing and maintaining a trademark monitoring program. Read our earlier post: http://brandaideblog.com. Enforcement means having a watch program in place to monitor new filings and counsel to give prompt notice of potential conflicts. Failure to police can mean complete loss of rights.
This all might not even matter much longer anyway, now that Oprah has officially announced her talk show will end September 9, 2011. Aha…
For more information on the importance of policing and monitoring your trademarks in the digital age, sign up for our blog and we’ll send you a free chapter from the Guide to Building and Protecting a Valuable Brand on the Internet, based upon the INSURE™ Brand Protect Sequence.
Technorati Tags: brand management, brand protection, Branding, Intellectual Property, loss of rights, police your mark, Registration, trademark, trademark infringement, trademark registration, trademark selection
4 Comments »
January 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Very nice piece. Do you know if Oprah ever used the proposed mark in a technical trademark sense?
January 26th, 2010 at 11:40 am
It’s silly for any entity to be able to own commonly used phrases. I’ve been using that phrase for decades, long before I ever heard Oprah use it. I learned it from my parents, who used that phrase probably before Oprah’s show ever existed.
There’s a great article written about this very topic by writer Leo Baubouta, who was sent a letter from an author’s attorney to stop using the phrase “feel the fear and do it anyway” becuase it was the name of a tm book title.
His argument is that it’s a commonly used phrase, and if we start tm language that’s used everyday, things can get really silly.
Check out his argument here:
January 26th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Apparently she did, enough to get approved by the TM office. There’s quite a bit at her site.
Hope all is well!
January 26th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Dear Maria:
Common phrases can be protected if used for particular goods and services. A great slogan can be a very strong way of messaging the brand. Great example: “Just have it your way” Who do you think of?
Your comments are appreciated!