News May The Fourth Be With You… (*)

[AgentPete]

Just a reminder that Saturday’s Huddle is open for business – it may be a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, but that’s absolutely no excuse to cancel a Huddle.

If you’ve never experienced a Huddle, we can promise you a good time. Feel free to discuss anything pertinent to your writer’s existence… and since writers are interested in everything, the scope is rather enormous

We tackle titles, synopses, first chapters, blurbs all in our stride. The collective hive mind that is the Huddle can assist with all of these things and more.

But you really don’t need to bring anything along at all, other than your writerly soul. Come along, participate, and enjoy yourself. Writers belong together: and Huddles are where it all coalesces.

Litopia Writer’s Huddle

Saturday 4th May

4:30pm UK onwards

Times in other parts of the world here

Reserve Your Spot​

(*) “May The Fourth Be With You” is intriguingly a trade mark of Lucasfilm Ltd for shirts and tops. Additionally, they have a trademark application for Han Solo’s famous line “I got a bad feeling about this”.

 

[MattScho]

How exactly do they trademark May the fourth? it's not only common usage, it's a date that predated the books, then movies. Also, adding "be with you" isn't a Star Wars universe thing, it was a religion thing, that also predates the Star Wars universe.

 

[AgentPete]

I know!
I was just wondering whether anyone has tried to trademark Cinco de Mayo – the next day – can’t immediately see any TMs, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

 

[MattScho]

Or January 1? Did Prince get to TM 1999? Do Orwell's descendants own 1984?

 

[LJ Beck]

Those would be interesting, albeit somewhat silly, law suits.

 

[Ed Simnett]

Early (first?) use in relation to a very dark day indeed...

 

[Ed Simnett]

This might be of interest: CINCO DE MAYO: A Trademark History

 

[AgentPete]

This might be of interest: CINCO DE MAYO: A Trademark History

That’s so interesting… yes, I’m not surprised that various people are claiming some kind of rights over it. Let’s see them defend their claim in a lawsuit,though.

It used to be, in the UK at least, that trade mark examiners would be very fussy over granting registration to marks such as these. Today, they OK almost everything, and take the view that commercial interests can duke it out in court.

A related legal issue is “passing off”, i.e. using someone else’s trading name (which may or may not be a registered trade mark) to confuse customers into buying your product.